A lose for a win

[disturbman]

Strange how things work. On one side of the channel Alstom bided succesfully and on the other side it loses the contract... and all with a quite similar product.

 

Alstom out of Thameslink bidding

 

29 October 2009

 

UK: Alstom Transport was informed late on October 22 that its bid to supply the new Thameslink EMU fleet had been eliminated from the final stage of the contest. This leaves Bombardier Transportation and Siemens Mobility in the running for the major order to be placed by the Department for Transport.

 

Alstom last supplied EMUs to UK operators during the first round of orders following privatisation, and had been seeking to re -enter this sector. Its strategy was based on the radical articulated X'Trapolis UK design, which was the lightest of the three contenders. However, articulation resulted in a higher axleload than the conventional EMUs offered by Bombardier and Siemens.

 

Bombardier, which has supplied a large number of articulated trains to European operators, is offering an evolution of its UK Electrostar EMU for Thameslink because it believes that the Network Rail track wear model used to calculate whole-life costs penalises articulation.

 

With Bombardier and Siemens both offering evolutions of existing EMUs with a proven reliability record in the UK, Alstom may also have been marked down on delivery risk. However, there is a similarity with the bidding for the Intercity Express Programme, where DfT eventually preferred a cheaper, less compliant but more conventional bid from Hitachi.

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/10/alstom-out-of-thameslink-bidding.html

 

Regions confirm €7bn framework TER contract

 

28 October 2009

 

FRANCE: A framework contract for the supply of up to 1 000 low-floor trainsets to operate regional services was signed in Paris on October 27 by SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and the President of Alstom Transport Philippe Mellier. Within the overall package, orders were confirmed for an initial build of 100 trains which will be delivered from 2013.

 

At a ceremony for regional representatives and invited guests, Pepy emphasised that he was signing the deal on behalf of the Association des Régions de France, a consortium of regional authorities led by Martin Malvey, President of Midi-Pyrénées. SNCF had been co-ordinating a joint tender for the regions over the past two years, he explained, but the individual regions will specify and procure the trains to meet their own requirements.

 

Dubbed Régiolis by Pepy, the articulated TER trainsets are designated Coradia Polyvalent by Alstom. The design is derived from the Coradia Nordic and Coradia Continental families, but adapted to meet French specifications. As well as a high degree of modularity, they will have permanent-magnet motors offering a saving of up to 20% in energy use, according to Mellier.

 

The base design is a dual-voltage EMU for 1∙5 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz operation; two other options add 15 kV AC or a diesel hybrid using small roof-mounted engines. Régiolis will be available in three standard lengths - 56 m (three-car), 72 m (four-car) or 110 m (six-car) - with interior configurations to suit suburban, regional or inter-city duties. The suburban option can also be offered with two doorways per car side, as with the Coradia Continental Class 440 units in Germany.

 

The initial order for 100 sets is valued at €800m, with the total contract potentially worth more than €7bn over 10 years; Mellier said he was confident that all the options would be taken up, and ‘maybe more’. Further orders for 35 sets are expected shortly, and discussions have started for another 20.

 

Of the first 135 trains, 25 are destined for Midi-Pyrénées, 22 for Alsace and 22 for Aquitaine. Basse-Normandie is taking 18, Picardie 17, Pays-de-la-Loire 15, Haute-Normandie eight and Lorraine eight. Mellier said around 60% would be diesel hybrids and the rest dual-system electric. Almost all length, interior and traction configurations are covered, he reported, except for the six-car EMU.

 

With up to 1 000 trains to be built over 10 years, the framework contract is expected to safeguard 3 000 jobs at Alstom’s French factories. The trains will be assembled at the former De Dietrich plant in Reichshoffen, with bogies from Le Creusot, electrical equipment from Ornans and Tarbes, and on-board computers from Villeurbanne.

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/10/regions-confirm-EUR7bn-framework-ter-contract.html

[railzilla]

Well Alstom is a French company thus they have a little advantage in France. It also seems that the British did,'t like tthe articulated design while in France there is a lot experience with articulated trains.

[disturbman]

Yeah well, Bombardier and Siemens aren't British either. Bombardier also has a lot advantages in France, they own big factories in the country. In fact they won allmost all the last regional train markets (AGC and NAT/Francilien). The articulated design might habe been a problem but since Alstom use it since many years (all TGVs including TGV Duplex and now the Coradias and the AGV) it doesn't strike ma as very relevant. I will be more in favor of a more pragmatic reason, Alstom's bid could have been higher than the others or their lobbying less effective.