Hyundai Rotem’s Another Feat in Greece

Wins a $270 bln railcar contract

Hyundai Rotem has made a strong showing in Athens, the city of mythology-cum-birthplace of Western philosophy once again by receiving he highest scores in technical evaluation to land the second contract in that country in seven years.
The consortium of Hyundai Rotem Company (Executive Vice Chairman & CEO Lee Yeo-sung) and Hanhwa, announced on 16, Sept that it has won the contract to supply 102 Electric Multiple Units for the Athens Metro Line 2 & 3 worth 160 million euro(KRW 270 billion won).
Hyundai Rotem first tapped into the European railway market in 2002, by supplying 126 units of electric railcars to Attiko Metro A.E., for the Athens Olympics.
In 2002 Hyundai Rotem was delivered its railcars to Athens 3 months in ahead of schedule, in time for the Athens Olympics. Such contributions and good word of mouth from citizens, led to the success of winning its second contract from the Attiko Metro A.E..
In 2004 during the first run of the metro line for the Olympics, George Superes (Minister of Construction and Environment) said, “The new railcar from Korea, that will connect the airports to the Olympic Stadium is among world’s finest. As I took a test ride along the line, I am impressed with the advanced technology , and I am confident that passengers will be satisfied with the quality of the vehicles.”
The contract signing, held at the headquarters of Attiko Metro A.E., was attended by Lee Yeo-sung (Executive Vice Chairman & CEO of Hyundai Rotem), Yang Tae-jin(President of Hanhwa), Bae Young-han(Korean Ambassador to Greece) and George Yanis (Chairman of Attiko Metro A.E.) among other officials.
Hyundai Rotem will design and manufacture the vehicles, which will be delivered to Athens by 2011. Hanhwa, with a local office in Greece, will be in charge of the export operation. Hyundai Rotem received the highest score for the design of the vehicle, which symbolizes a strong and solid helmet of a Greek warrior. It also received the top scores in other technical evaluation such as energy efficiency, reliability and maintainability, out winning other competitors from Europe by far. For this project, Hyundai Rotem is determined to supply vehicles that meet the high quality standards of the European railway market. To make the cars lighter, Hyundai Rotem applied aluminum alloy for the exterior and the Nomax Honey Comb, a light interior material structured like a bee hive. The energy efficiency of the vehicles will also be highly increased by adapting the Regenerative Brake System, which reuses the energy that is generated during braking.
The city of Athens, populated by 4 million people, is currently operating metro lines 1 to 3, and preparing to build fourth line. The need for other railway vehicles such as locomotives and diesel multiple units is also expected to increase, since the Greek government is seeking to reorganize and improve its urban transportation system. An official of Hyundai Rotem said “Through this contract we were able to prove our quality of our cars.” He also added, “We are currently bidding for projects in Amsterdam and Copenhagen. We hope to continue the ‘mythical success’ in the Western European market, as we did in Athens.”. nw

(left photo) Hyundai Rotem Executive Vice Chairman Lee Yeo-sung, Hanwha Corp. President Yang Tae-jin and Athens Metro Chairman G. Yanis participate in a ceremony to sign a deal to supply trains to Athens Metro in Athens on Sept. 16. The interior and exterior of a train, to be supplied by the Hyundai Rotem-Hanwha consortium.