Hyundai Rotem Co. said yesterday that it had delivered Brazil`s first unmanned train. Hyundai Rotem is a heavy industry company affiliated to the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group.
The trains, known as Electric Multiple Units, will be used on Sao Paulo`s new urban train line that is scheduled to open in March next year, the company said.
The shipment was the first of the 84 units, worth $160 million, the company has been contracted to deliver for the Sao Paulo rail line.
Including the Sao Paulo contract, the company has won contracts for 188 train carriages in Brazil since 2003, when the company first entered the market.
Hyundai Rotem`s other Brazilian contracts were supplying trains for El Salvador and Rio de Janeiro.
Hyundai Rotem officials said that the company will also supply essential electrical components and the propulsion system for the trains.
The company said in a statement that the Sao Paulo project will have a positive effect on the company`s operations in the South American country and that it will enter the bids for the 520 kilometer high-speed rail line that will connect Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo and Campinas with the new KTX-II trains.
(cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
By Choi He-suk