China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC) Tangshan Co. Ltd has begun making train sets for the Metro do Porto metropolitan railway in the northern Portuguese city of Oporto, the China News Service (CNS) reports.

The Chinese state-run news agency says Chinese state-owned CRRC Tangshan ceremonially started the production line on Wednesday.

The report quotes CRRC Tangshan Deputy Chief Engineer Wang Zhiwei as saying his company will make 18 sets of four carriages, each train set capable of carrying 346 people at a maximum speed of 80 km per hour.

The order is the first his company has received for rolling stock for an urban railway in the European Union, CNS quotes Mr Wang as saying.

Last year the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported that the operator of the Metro do Porto would pay CRRC Tangshan 49.6 million euros (about US$56 million) to build the 18 train sets and maintain them for five years.