51 TER trainsets for the SNCF and 10 freight locomotives for Veolia Cargo

Saint Ouen Cedex, France – The SNCF has placed an order with Alstom for the supply of 51 new double-deck Coradia Duplex distributed-power regional trains: 39 triple-car trainsets and 12 four-car trainsets, making a total of 165 coaches. Under an industrial workshare agreement with Alstom, Bombardier will participate in the manufacture of 63 of the cars.

The order forms part of the multi-year investment programme launched in September 2000 and financed by French regions, to renew the TER (Regional Express Trains) fleet. The 51 trainsets will be shared between the regions of Nord Pas-de-Calais, Rhône-Alpes, Provence-Côte d’Azur and Picardy. The Alstom sites of Valenciennes, Tarbes, Villeurbanne, Le Creusot and Ornans, in France, and also the Charleroi site in Belgium, will take part in fulfilment of the contract.

In respect of freight, the private operator Veolia Cargo has exercised an option to acquire 10 Prima electric locomotives, with associated maintenance for a period of 8 years.

These options, which form part of the contract signed on 3 October 2005, brings to 17 the number of locomotives acquired by Veolia Cargo. In January 2007, Veolia Cargo took delivery of 4 locomotives. Three others are currently in production and will be delivered between now and July 2007. The 10 new locomotives will be delivered between February and October 2008.

The new locomotives will be able to operate throughout France and Germany, thanks to their tri-current power supply system. Links between the two countries have been operated using similar trains since the autumn of 2006.

They will be constructed on the Belfort site, which will assemble equipment supplied by the sites of Omans, Tarbes, Villeurbanne and Le Creusot in France and the site at Charleroi in Belgium.