Bombardier and Alstom Consortium Awarded a 128 Million Euro Order from the Belgian National Railways

72 Additional M6 Double-deck Cars to Be Delivered to the SNCB

The consortium Bombardier Transportation and Alstom Transport have signed a contract for 72 M6 double-deck cars with the Belgian National Railways (SNCB). The total contract value is approximately 128 million euros ($176 million US) with shares of around 50% for each partner. Deliveries are scheduled to take place from April 2010 until March 2011.

With this fourth follow-on order from a contract awarded in 1999, the total amount of M6 double-deck cars will reach 492 units (approximately 64,000 seats). The M6 double-deck cars are mostly used on the main lines of the Belgian railways network and operate at maximum speeds of 160 kph.

Bombardier transportation’s site in Bruges (Belgium), relying on its long standing engineering and production experience, will be responsible for the complete production of the four cab cars as well as the final assembly of the 68 intermediate (trailer) cars. The bogies will be manufactured at Bombardier’s bogies centre of excellence in Crespin (France). The design is based on the well-recognized success of Bombardier’s I-11 vehicles in terms of comfort, as well as the expectations and needs expressed by passengers.

In its role as Alstom’s worldwide centre of excellence for auxiliary converters and national and ETCS/ERTMS (European Train Control System / European Railway Traffic Management Systems) signalling solutions, Alstom Transport’s Belgian site in Charleroi will supply the auxiliary converters for all cars and the ATLAS solution compatible with ERTMS for the four cab cars. The Alstom Transport sites of Valenciennes and Villeurbanne (France) will respectively deliver the semi-finished trailer cars and the train control devices for the four cab cars.

Stéphane Rambaud-Measson, President Passengers, Bombardier Transportation, commented: “This order clearly reflects the strong confidence the SNCB has in our double-deck trains and the level of comfort they offer. It is also an indication that the vehicles are really appreciated by the passengers and represent the ideal answer to increasing ridership.”

“Alstom is very satisfied with the renewed confidence the SNCB has shown the consortium said Roland Kientz, Senior Vice President Alstom Transport for North Europe.“ Thanks to the growing success of the M6 cars since their commercial service in 2002, we have been a strong partner of the SNCB contributing to the development of railway services in Belgium.”

Belgian Railways (SNCB) CEO Marc Descheemaecker commented: “With our number of passengers increasing every year, these double-deck vehicles add both capacity and comfort to our fleet. The M6 double-deck vehicles represent an important contribution to improved mobility. Not only will they allow us to expand our offer during the peak hours on our main lines, they will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the regularity of our trains. It is very important that we realize this investment within the established budgetary envelope.”