Trinidad and Tobago chooses Bouygues Construction, Alstom and RATP to develop its railway system

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the National Infrastructure Development Company Limited "NIDCO" (*) have chosen the Trinitrain consortium (**), made up of Bouygues Construction, Alstom and RATP. Développement, to design, build, operate and maintain an express train railway system on the island of Trinidad.

The project includes the construction of two express train lines with a total length of 105 kilometres (including approx. 20 kilometres of viaducts) and around ten stations. One line will link the capital Port of Spain to the south of the island (San Fernando), while the other will cross the island from east to west, from Port of Spain to Sangre Grande.

During the first phase of the contract, worth US$70 million, the consortium will conduct preliminary design studies to finalise the route and the detailed specifications for the railway system selected. Following this pre-design phase, which is expected to last 20 months, the cost and scheduling of the project will be agreed with Nidco.

Construction will then be managed by Bouygues Travaux Publics (a subsidiary of Bouygues Construction) for the civil engineering and Alstom Transport for the railway system and the supply of rolling stock over an estimated four-year period. RATP Développement will handle the operation and maintenance of the service for 15 years.

This project illustrates the operational and commercial partnership put in place since April 2006 by Bouygues Construction and Alstom to jointly develop and offer solutions that combine the expertise of the two groups: civil engineering and construction for Bouygues Construction and systems, equipment and services for power generation and rail transport for Alstom.

(*) The “National Infrastructure Development Company Limited” is a state enterprise created by the Government of Trinidad and

(**) The Trinitrain consortium is made up of the French companies Bouygues Travaux Publics (a subsidiary of Bouygues Construction), Alstom Transport and RATP Développement (a subsidiary of RATP). It will draw on the support of the following international partners: Covec, a subsidiary of CREC (China Railways Engineering Corporation, the leading construction company in China), Daynco, a Trinidad and Tobago-based construction company, and the Canadian engineering consulting firm Dessau.