Astra IVA is a family of metro train used by

Bucharest Metro The Bucharest Metro ( ro, Metroul din București) is an underground rapid transit system that serves Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It first opened for service on 16 November 1979. The network is run by Metrorex. One of two parts of the large ...

, of which 504 cars (252 two-car sets) were built between 1976 and 1993 by Întreprinderea de Vagoane Arad (IVA) in Arad,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

History

The prototype was made in 1976, with series production starting in 1978. There were three batches, the first being made in 1978-1980 and being distinctive from the others due to a "pit" in the front end, the second one being made between 1980-1985, and the third one made from 1985-1992, featuring red-silver instead of yellow paint from delivery. The trains used on the system are made up of various trainsets (''Ramă Electrică de Metrou'') connected together (''Tren Electric de Metrou''). Each trainset is made up of two permanently connected train-cars (B'B'-B'B' formation) that can only be run together. Normally, 3 two-car sets are coupled together to make a complete six-car formation. Between 1994 and 1996, 42 cars (21 two-car sets) were refurbished by

FAUR FAUR S.A. is an industrial engineering and manufacturing company based in Bucharest, Romania. History FAUR was founded by Nicolae Malaxa in 1921 under the name MALAXA. Main activities were the repairing of rolling stock, manufacturing steam lo ...

and

Electroputere Electroputere S.A. (which translates as ''Electropower'' in English) is a Romanian company based in Craiova. Founded in 1949, it is one of the largest industrial companies in Romania. Electroputere has produced more than 2,400 diesel locomotive ...

for service on Line M3, however for unknown reasons the refurbishment project was abandoned and these trainsets are currently preserved at Berceni Depot. These trains were distinguished by a blue livery, and featured new technical equipment. An attempt to build more intermediate coaches to allow for a 3-car x 2 formation was abandoned in 1995. In 2000–2003, all remaining Astra IVA coaches were refurbished and equipped with new

ATO ATO may refer to: Technology *Abort to Orbit, an intact abort procedure for Space Shuttle launches *Arsenic trioxide a potent chemotherapeutic agent for acute promyelocytic leukemia * ATO fuse * Automatic train operation * Assisted take off Milit ...

and ATP signalling systems, allowing for partial driverless operation especially on Line M4. The Astra IVA trains also underwent further refurbishment by

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

in 2008, and again in 2011–2014. The Astra Arad rolling stock is approaching the end of its service life, so the cars are being gradually phased out in favour of newer Bombardier Movia and CAF trains. As of January 2017, 15 trainsets (90 modular cars) are in commercial service. In 2020, due to the deployment of several Bombardier BM2 sets on the M5 metro line, several IVA sets were sent back on the M3 line to fill in shortages of rolling stock, their redeployment commencing on 24 May.

References

External links

Page on the ASTRA IVA cars

ASTRA/IVA

ASTRA/IVA modernized by Alstom
{{in lang, ro IVA Bucharest Metro passenger equipment Train-related introductions in 1976 Electric multiple units of Romania 750 V DC multiple units

History

See also

References

External links