Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A. (CAF)
Public (BMAD: CAF)
Industry Manufacturing
Founded 1917 (Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles)
Headquarters Beasain, Spain
Number of locations
 11 factories, including: Beasain, Zaragoza, Irún, Linares (Spain); Hortolandia (Brazil); Huehuetoca (Mexico); Elmira (USA)
Key people
 Jose María Baztarrica Garijo, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
Products Design, manufacture, maintenance and supply of equipment and components for railway systems
Revenue Increase € 1,45 billion (2014
Increase € 146 million EBITDA (2014)
Profit Increase € 62 million (2014)
Owner Public; Employees via Cartera Social S.A. (30%); Guipúzcoa Donostia Kutxa (23%)
Number of employees
 7,000 (inc. subsidiaries)
Website www.caf.es
Mass Transit Railway Hong Kong A-Stock EMU built by CAF and Adtranz

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) (literally "Construction & Auxiliary of Railways") is a Spanish private company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment. It is based in Beasain in the Basque Country. Equipment manufactured by CAF includes light rail vehicles, rapid transit trains, railroad cars and locomotives, as well as variable gauge axles that can be fitted on any existing truck or bogie.

Over the 20 years from the early 1990s, CAF benefitted from the rail investment boom in its home market in Spain to become a world player with a broad technical capability, able to manufacture almost any type of rail vehicle.[1] CAF has supplied railway rolling stock to a number of major urban transit operators around Europe, the USA, South America, East Asia, India and North Africa.

History

CAF was an acronym for the earlier name of Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, as well as for Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles.

Fábrica de Hierros San Martín

In 1860 Domingo Goitia, Martín Usabiaga and José Francisco Arana established this company, whose main activity was puddling furnaces and cylinder rolling.

La Maquinista Guipuzcoana

In 1892 Francisco de Goitia (Domingo Goitia's son and heir) joined the Marquis of Urquijo to set up La Maquinista Guipuzcoana, whose main activity was the operation of machinery and the forging and construction of railway rolling stock.

In 1898 it set up its plant in Beasain, Gipuzkoa. In 1905 it changed its name to Fábrica de Vagones de Beasain (FVB).

Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles

Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) was founded in 1917, specializing in freight car production and with a total of 1,600 employees.

In 1940 the Irun factory was set up, following the expansion of activity after the Spanish Civil War (CAF took part in reconstructing the Spanish rail fleet).

In 1954 CAF took over Material Móvil y Construcciones (MMC) from Zaragoza (Aragon), a company with extensive experience in manufacturing long-distance and subway trains.

Since 1958 the company has modernized and enlarged its Beasain plant and expanded its activity to include all kinds of rolling stock. In line with this, in 1969 CAF created its Research and Development Unit, which increased the company's competitiveness and intensified the focus on in-house technology.

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles

In 1971 the existing Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) merged with Material Móvil y Construcciones (MMC) and the company adopted its current name Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles.

Rolling stock

Spanish trains

Class 121

For RENFE, the following high speed rail EMUs were built:

and the following regional trains:

Suburban trains:

Locomotives:

For Mallorca, the Fesur Hybrid locomotive Bitrac 3600 was developed.

For FEVE:

For Euskotren:

Spanish metro and tram

For Madrid:

For Barcelona:

Class 5000

Trams:

Outside Spain: trains

Algiers Metro
Heathrow express
Tren de la Costa unit acquired in 1995

Outside Spain: metros and trams

Brussels Metro new unit built by CAF
Rome metro
Caracas metro
CAF 5000 on Line B of the Buenos Aires Underground

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hondius, Dr Harry. "IN FOCUS : CAF, A versatile enterprise that keeps expanding". Railway Gazette International. 168, No. 4 (April 2012).
  2. ↑ CAF project page on MÁV
  3. ↑ Treinfabrikant CAF wint aanbesteding voor 120 nieuwe Sprinters (SNG), 30 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "CAF awarded Arriva Rail North rolling stock contract". Railway Gazette International. 22 January 2016.
  5. ↑ CAF project page on Debrecen
  6. ↑ CAF project page on Budapest
  7. ↑ "Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, we create railway solutions ::". CAF. Retrieved 2009-07-15.

External links

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