French group Alstom challenges rail contract won by Bombardier
AFX: 4 Nov 2006
PARIS - The French engineering group Alstom has asked a Paris administrative court to suspend a huge contract awarded by the national railway SNCF to Canadian rival Bombardier, the railway said today.
Alstom Transport 'filed a request with the Paris administrative tribunal concerning the deal' worth 2.7 bln eur to build commuter trains for the Paris suburban network, an SNCF spokesman said.
'The group is asking for a suspension', he added.
A massive program to renovate the suburban system is expected to cost almost 4 bln eur, with Bombardier providing the rolling stock.
An initial stage that would include 172 new trains was estimated at 1.85 bln eur, of which the Canadian group would be paid 1.35 bln eur.
An option provided for an additional 200 trains that would be delivered starting in 2016.
All of the trains awarded to Bombardier were to be built in France, according to Jean-Paul Huchon, a member of the opposition Socialist party who heads the council and transport authority for the region around Paris called Ile-de-France.