Gatron to deliver composite seats for 22 Alstom trains
The production of more than 11,000 seats for trains running in the São Paulo subway showcases expertise in hand-laid composite applications.
Source | Getty Images
Brazilian company Gatron (São José dos Pinhais, Brazil), a manufacturer of composite parts, has signed another contract to supply seats for 22 trains manufactured by rail transport company Alstom (Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, France). The trains will be part of Line 6-Orange of the São Paulo subway.
The manual lamination process will produce 11,880 seats in total. “This technology was chosen to meet flame retardancy and smoke suppression standards specific to metro rail applications,” emphasizes Camila Scarmin, commercial and marketing director at Gatron. As it contains many additives, such as alumina trihydrate, the resin for this type of application is reported to be very viscous, making it impossible to inject into the mold using a vacuum.
Another parallel project between Gatron and Alstom is the production of 70 masks for 35 trains for Taiwan’s Wanda Zhonghe Shulin Line, which will connect the city of Taipei to New Taipei. Scheduled to be completed in 2026, the supply is also based on manual composite lamination.
“The highlight was the record time in which we manufactured the masks,” Camille recalls. From design to the first pieces delivered to the customer, it only took 120 days. This was only possible thanks to the expertise of Gatron’s molds, engineering, processes and laboratories. “On the market, a supply of this type would take something close to 6 months,” she estimates.
The relationship between Gatron and Alstom began in mid-2022 when the composites manufacturer was chosen to produce more than 7,500 parts for the trains that the French manufacturer supplied to ViaMobilidade, which run on Lines 8 and 9 of São Paulo’s metropolitan trains.
In addition to 72 masks and an equal number of cabins and driver desks, Gatron has manufactured around 4,000 composite panels.
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