OREANDA-NEWS. The Chengdu metro line 3 phase one, on which 144 metro cars equipped with Alstom’s traction systems circulate on, entered revenue service on July 31st.

The phase one - which is over 20 km long and includes 17 stations - is from General Hospital of Chengdu Military Region to Taipingyuan. It connects Northeast Chengdu with Southwest Chengdu in a diagonal.

Chengdu Line 3 - which is being built in three phases – will be 50.4 km long and include 37 stations. Alstom has been awarded contracts to supply traction systems to equip a total of 432 metro cars to circulate on the new line, including 144 metro cars for phase one and 288 metro cars for phase two and three, expected to start their trial runs in 2018. The traction systems for all three phases are being manufactured by Alstom’s local joint venture Shanghai Alstom Transport Electrical Equipment Co. Ltd. (SATEE) in China, and Alstom in France and Belgium, with components supplied by Tarbes and software supplied by Charleroi.

Through SATEE, Alstom is supplying its metro traction system OptONIX, specifically designed and developed for the Chinese market. OptONIX is Alstom's high performance, high reliability traction system specifically developed to improve operational performance and reduce life cycle cost. 

Alstom has supplied traction solutions for 18 metro lines in 8 cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao and Hong Kong. Alstom and SATEE have been supplying traction for metro cars in China for more than 15 years.