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Ansaldobreda, S.P.A.

Ansaldobreda S.P.A. is a company based in Pistoia and Naples, Italy and responsible for designing and manufacturing railway and mass transit vehicles. The company was formed by the merger of the Ansaldo Trasporti unit with Breda Costruzioni Ferroviarie.

Work

Denmark

Ansaldobreda supplied automated trains for the Copenhagen Metro. There were considerable problems with the drive control systems, resulting in delays and decreased frequency of service.

The company has recently become known for delaying the delivery of the new IC4 high-speed DMUs and refusing to acknowledge penalties from the government because of these delays. The trains were supposed to be ready in 2003, but so far Ansaldobreda has only been able to deliver a single set for testing. May 21st 2008 the Danish customer DSB announced that they would cancel the entire 5 bill. DKK (670 mill. EUR) contract if not at least 14 sets are running in production by May 2009. However 70% of the contract amount has already been paid to AnsaldoBreda.

Italy

Breda has long been the main Italian manufacturer of railway vehicles. Its vehicles for FS Trenitalia include:

high-speed electric locomotive E 402
ETR 500 high speed train
TAF ("High Frequentation Train") EMU

Metros

Driverless trains for the future Brescia Metrobus, Rome Metro, and Milan.

The Netherlands

The Dutch operator NS Hispeed has placed an order for nine V250 'Albatros' high-speed trainsets for operation on the HSL Zuid high-speed line between Brussels and Amsterdam. Belgian national railway operator NMBS ordered another 3. However, Ansaldobreda was also not able to deliver these trains on time, and testing (in the Czech Republic) did not begin until 2008. Coincidentally, the line operates next to the city of Breda, in the southern Netherlands.

Morocco

Ansaldobreda supplied trains (Z2M) for the Moroccan railway operator ONCF. Some drive and energy control problems have been spotted especially in the Casablanca-Rabat circuit.

Norway

Ansaldobreda is also responsible for providing the new fleet of Classe 72 EMUs for NSB's local trains in Norway, replacing the aging BM69 units.

Sweden

Ansaldobreda has provided new trams for Gothenburg. They have had extensive problems of delivering and the trams they have delivered have been of poor quality. The biggest problems has been driver back problems and noise.

Turkey

The company took part in the production of light rail vehicles for the Ankaray line of Ankara Metro.

United States

Breda's presence in the United States began with their manufacturing of light rail vehicles for Cleveland's Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA Rapid Transit, or "The Rapid," or RTA) in 1982-83. Other projects the company made for the US market include:

The Washington Metro 2000, 3000, and 4000-series rail cars (manufactured 1982-91)

Breda also assisted in rehabilitation of the 1000-series rail cars manufactured by Rohr Industries.

The A650 subway cars for the Red Line in Los Angeles, California (manufactured 1988-96)

Currently, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (operator of the Red Line) has an order for 50 new P2550 light rail vehicles with Breda for the Gold Line.

The LRV2 (1400 series) and LRV3 (1500 series) light rail vehicles for the San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) (manufactured 1995-2001). These cars replaced the older and unreliable Boeing-Vertol SLRV fleet.
The Type 8 LRV for Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) (manufactured 1999-2005 with interruptions) These LRVs had extensive problems, and Breda's attempt to gain the contract for an order of MBTA Blue Line cars was refused despite Breda having the low bid.
The CQ312 series cars for Atlanta's Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) system (manufactured 2000-02).
In 1990, Breda also manufactured 254 Dual Powered Diesel-Electric Articulated Buses for use in the Metro Transit Tunnel in Seattle, Washington. The fleet has recently been converted to electric only trolley service because of the tunnel's temporary closure for Light Rail construction, the replacement of tunnel fleet with hybrid-electric New Flyer DE60LF coaches, and the limited availability of replacement parts.
Currently, Ansaldobreda is rehabilitating the NFTA's fleet of 27 LRV. In 2008 the cars will be restored four at a time. All cars are scheduled to be rehabilitated by the end of 2010.