Last month, CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co Ltd (www.crrcgc.co.uk) signed a contract worth $278 million with Argentina’s Ministry of Transport, to provide 200 new intercity EMUs (electric multiple units) and accessories for the Roca Line (a commuter rail service in the city of Buenos Aires).

This is the third order for intercity EMUs won by CRRC Qingdao Sifang from Argentina.

In 2013, in order to upgrade the commuter system in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s Ministry of Transport (through two successive orders) purchased a total of 709 intercity EMUs made by CRRC Qingdao Sifang to replace ageing ones on the Roca, Sarmiento and Mitre lines.

All of these units have been put into service — 300 of them on the Roca Line.

After the order for 200 new intercity EMUs and accessories is completed, all the older carriages on the Roca Line will have been replaced. The new EMUs will be delivered from mid-2019.