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SNCB picks Alstom-Bombardier consortium as sole bidder for €3BN train order
Published: Mon, 2015-02-02 08:01-
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Belgium’s new train procurement
Belgian passenger carrier Société nationale des chemins de fer belges (SNCB) has shortlisted a consortium formed by Canada’s Bombardier and France’s Alstom as the sole bidder in its ongoing train procurement which is estimated to be worth up to €3 billion. Belgium’s state-run railway company is to order as much as 1,000 double-deck trains, according to the country’s Federal Minister for Mobility Jacqueline Galant.
However, before a contract could be signed between the French-Canadian consortium and the passenger carrier, it is necessary to resolve a number of issues related to the potential deal. These, among others, include the spending cuts which were recently imposed on SNCB as part of austerity measures, Galant said at the Belgian parliament, as reported by local news agency Belga.
Under the plan, the new trains are to be put into service from 2017 to 2025. According to SNCB’s investment plan for the years 2013-2025, the Belgian firm is aiming to invest as much as €26 billion in acquiring new rolling stock and modernising its existing rail infrastructure. The plan was approved in December 2012.
Montréal-based Bombardier operates a production facility located in Bruges, in the northern part of Belgium. The Bombardier Rail Vehicles plant supplies a wide range of rolling stock to customers in numerous European countries, including high speed trains for Eurostar and Thalys, rolling stock which operates on the Eurotunnel, trains for the UK’s Virgin Rail, rolling stock for Midland Mainline and Hull Trains in the UK, and the M6 double-deck trains for SNCB. The Belgian factory is fitted with a total space of 173,000 sq. M., and Bombardier became its principal shareholder in 1988.
Av Jaroslaw Adamowski
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