ERREKA closes a deal for 2,500 automatic platform screen doors in Brazil

• This is Erreka’s largest project on the South American market.
• TransBrasil is a mass transit project currently under construction in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
• Erreka’s solution will improve access and guarantee safety.
• Antton Tomasena, Erreka’s Chief Executive Officer, and Aitor Sotes, the Manager of the Connected Access Business Unit, will visit Brazil from 20-22 March.

Erreka has recently concluded a major deal in Brazil, winning a contract to manufacture the automatic doors of the stations of the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines under construction in Rio de Janeiro. Erreka will supply a total of 2,500 automatic doors for the lines operated by MOBIRio, the public transport company managing the BRT system in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The MONDRAGON Corporation company has also secured a major deal to renovate of the current BRT lines of the city of Rio (TransWest, TransCarioca and TransOlimpica), a service with stations requiring innovative solutions to guarantee access control and safety.

On March 20 Erreka’s CEO Antton Tomasena and the Connected Access Business Unit Manager, Aitor Sotes will be travelling to Brazil to visit and oversee the installations and works on the TransBrasil lines. During the trip they will be meeting with Jessik Trairi, the Secretary for Works Infrastructures of the City of Rio de Janeiro, they will visit BRT facilities and lines and will attend the official opening of the station with 1500th automatic access.

Solutions designed and manufactured in Bergara

The equipment and the complete solution needed for this two projects, have been designed and manufactured by ERREKA at its central manufacturing plant in Bergara (Gipuzkoa). The scale and volume of the operation serve to further strengthen Erreka’s presence on the American market and help establish the Basque cooperative as a supplier of global all-round mobility solutions, at a key time for mobility and the cities of the future.

BRT, Bus Rapid Transit

BRT is a mass rapid public transport system using articulated buses designed to improve the flow of passengers. BRT Brasil runs in 21 Brazilian cities, moving over 11 million passengers a day. As to TransBrasil , it is a new mass transport project currently under construction in the city of Rio to cater to the needs of commuters living in the city’s southern suburbs. This line will transport over a million people.

Erreka will be providing its automatic platform screen doors in 55 stations, each needing an average of 40 – 60 doors per station, and together they will involve the manufacture of a total of 2,500 automatic doors.

A successful deal

Erreka has succeeded in offering a working solution to facilitate people mobility, improving access, guaranteeing safety and reducing defaults in control. One of the critical points was designing a solution that would precisely address all the client’s needs, as there were major problems with vandalism and fare dodgers. Erreka’s aim was to provide a robust solution that would also optimize infrastructure operating costs.

A complete mobility solution

Erreka has designed, manufactured and installed entry and access control systems for more than 60 years, accumulating a huge amount of know-how in the access field and making the MONDRAGON cooperative a benchmark supplier of complex full mobility solutions.

Erreka’s new solution involves adapting its product software to the technological needs of BRT, one of the world’s largest and most demanding transport systems. The Antzuola-based cooperative has its own engineering resources enabling it to provide customised project solutions.

In this case they have worked in tandem to improve the solution’s design and strength, through technological and digital adaptation to the project’s demands, as it required designing new doors and replacing the glass sliding doors by a micro-perforated metal mesh. The result is improved functioning at the stations, modernising access and system safety, reducing fraudulent access and bringing down the system’s operating costs.

About Erreka

Erreka forms part of the MONDRAGON Corporation and currently has a staff of over 500 people and turnover exceeding €75m last year. Erreka has 6 production facilities in 3 different continents and 71.4% of its total sales are currently made internationally.

With its 5 business lines – Plastics, Smart Fastening, Medical, Care and Connected Access – Erreka has expanded its offer of services and products, basing its diversification strategy on open innovation. It is currently involved in inorganic growth projects, seeking to invest in companies, initiatives and start-ups with a view to future growth.