Medway and Captrain Delay New Locomotives in Portugal to 2028

Why It Matters

The postponement delays expected efficiency gains and cost reductions for Iberian freight, while slowing Portugal’s broader move toward network‑wide ETCS interoperability.

Key Takeaways

• Certification of Convel STM pushes Euro6000 launch to 2028.
• Only ~300 km of Portugal’s 2,500 km network supports ETCS‑only trains.
• STM translates ETCS signals to legacy Convel balises.
• Prototype testing delayed six months, now starting June.
• Portugal plans full ETCS installation across network by 2050.

Pulse Analysis

The Iberian freight market has long been hampered by signalling incompatibility between Spain’s ETCS‑ready network and Portugal’s legacy Convel system. While Spanish routes have adopted the European Train Control System, roughly 69 % of Portugal’s 2,500 km rail infrastructure still relies on the Class B Convel ATP, limiting modern locomotives to a handful of corridors. Operators such as Medway and Captrain introduced Stadler Euro6000 units equipped with ETCS, hoping to streamline cross‑border services, but without a translation layer the new trains could only run on about 300 km of Portuguese track.

Critical Software’s Specific Transmission Module (STM) was designed to bridge that gap, allowing ETCS‑fitted locomotives to read Convel balises and operate seamlessly on the Portuguese network. Developed jointly with Medway, Stadler, Alpha Trains and Hitachi, the STM underwent prototype installation on a Siemens 4700 unit. Certification, however, requires a two‑step homologation—first in Spain, then in Portugal—and field testing that was originally slated for early 2024. The testing start slipped to June, pushing the overall certification timeline by six months and postponing full fleet deployment to early or late 2028.

The delay postpones the anticipated cost savings from higher traction power and reduced locomotive changes at the border, keeping freight operators dependent on older, less efficient stock for another two years. It also underscores the broader challenge of harmonising national signalling systems within the EU’s TEN‑T corridors, where Portugal aims to equip the entire network with ETCS by 2050. Once the STM is certified, the Euro6000 fleet will unlock faster, more reliable freight corridors such as Lisboa‑Porto, potentially attracting new entrants and boosting the Iberian rail freight market’s competitiveness.