Belgian railway chooses Spanish manufacturer for hundreds of new trains
Spanish train manufacturer CAF has won a tender to build hundreds of trains for Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB. French company Alstom, which is firmly anchored in Belgium, is missing out on the contract, reports the magazine Trends-Tendances. NMBS/SNCB only confirms that a ‘preferred bidder’ has been appointed.
NMBS/SNCB had announced earlier that it wants to renew half of its fleet by 2032. This specific tender concerns MR30 train sets, railcars in which the engine is built in and which thus do not have to be pulled by a locomotive.
According to Trends-Tendances, CAF would have proposed a cost of 3.4 billion euros for this contract. The Spanish train manufacturer has earlier also won orders from other transport companies in Belgium, such as Flemish public transport company De Lijn and Brussels public transport operator MIVB/STIB.
Alstom Benelux also participated in the tender, reports Trends-Tendances, but the company thus misses out on the contract. Alstom employs 480 people at its plant in Bruges and more than 1,000 people in Charleroi, where mainly research and development is carried out.
“There has been a European tender based on technical and financial evaluation criteria, and a ‘preferred bidder’ has now been appointed,” the NMBS/SNCB responded to the article. That means that the railway company is now continuing the negotiations with one party to reach a formal agreement. Who that party is, the NMBS/SNCB is not yet saying.
The intention is to sign a 12-year framework agreement, which provides for the supply of hundreds of train sets, “for a fleet of up to 170,000 seats”, according to the tender published in late 2022. The train sets will be used on IC connections as well as local and suburban L and S connections.
Technician of the Spanish train manufacturer CAF © BELGA PHOTO Rodrigo BUENDIA / AFP
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