January 29, 2024 – Alstom, global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, and the Romanian Railway Reform Authority (ARF) have signed a contract for the delivery of 16 Traxx 3 MS electric locomotives and 20 years of associated maintenance services. The contract, totalling around €150 million, extends Alstom’s collaboration with ARF within the rolling stock sector. The 20-year maintenance and repair period can be extended by a further 20 years by concluding an additional agreement.
The Traxx locomotives offer a flexible design based on a robust, modular platform approach compatible with many applications (single or multi-country freight and passenger transport) and available in various configurations (AC, DC and multi-system). This product delivers increased operational performance and reliability with higher energy efficiency and extended maintenance intervals to improve its availability.
Alstom has been active in Romania for almost 30 years and is a market leader in railway electrification and signalling solutions. The company is responsible for implementing signalling or electrification solutions on the Rhine-Danube railway corridor as well as in the Cluj area, where the company is also part of the consortium building the second metro system in the country, in the city of Cluj Napoca. The first CBTC urban signalling solution in the country is under implementation by Alstom on Bucharest’s metro Line 5. The company has also been the provider of maintenance services for the Bucharest metro fleet for nearly 20 years, with an ongoing contract valid until 2036.
Akiem, a leading European rolling stock leasing company, has ordered an additional 15 Siemens (OTC: SIEGY) Vectron AC and Vectron MS locomotives from Siemens Mobility. The order was placed as part of a framework agreement for the purchase of locomotives that was signed in December 2021. Locomotives from this new call will be delivered between 2025 and 2027. Akiem previously ordered 20 Vectron locomotives from Siemens Mobility in December 2021 and an additional 65 units last August.
The ordered locomotives have a maximum power of 6.4 megawatts and can be delivered with a top speed of either 160 or 200 km/h. They can be used for cross-border freight transport as well as fast passenger service in a number of European countries.
To date, Siemens Mobility has sold more than 1,800 Vectron locomotives to 66 customers in 16 countries, and the fleet has covered over 750 million kilometers in service. Locomotives based on the Vectron platform have been approved for operation in 20 European countries.
July 28, 2023 – The Groupe PMM consortium led by Alstom (OTC: ALSMY), Groupe des partenaires pour la mobilité des Montréalais, participated in the inauguration hosted by its customer, CDPQ Infra, of the first segment of Réseau express métropolitain (REM), a new automated urban rail system, which connects Brossard on Montreal’s South Shore with Montreal’s Central Station. Upon completion, REM will be one of the world’s largest automated transport networks – 67 kilometres long with 26 stations – connecting downtown Montreal to the South Shore, the North Shore, the West Island and Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, it will provide rapid service with trains arriving every 3 minutes 45 seconds during peak hours and operate 20 hours a day.
Groupe PMM provided REM with a complete driverless, automated metro system, including rolling stock and signalling, and will operate and maintain the entire 67-kilometre system for 30 years. The first segment, between Brossard and Montreal’s Central Station, spans 17 kilometres and includes five (5) stations equipped with a system of platform screen doors installed by Alstom, a first in Quebec. Eighty (80) Metropolis metro cars will be operated on this segment, which will enter commercial service on July 31st.
The event was held in the presence of Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, François Legault, Premier of Quebec, Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal, Charles Émond, President and CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Jean-Marc Arbaud, CEO of CDPQ Infra, Henri Poupart-Lafarge, Chairman and CEO of Alstom, Michael Keroullé, President of the Americas region for Alstom and Jean-Michel Morvan, Director of the Groupe PMM consortium.
Under the terms of the contract, Groupe PMM will supply 212 Alstom Metropolis metro cars (106 two-car trainsets), Alstom’s Urbalis GoA4 (Grade of Automation 4) driverless and automated communications-based train control (CBTC) solution, and Alstom’s Iconis control centre solution, as well as platform screen doors, Wi-Fi connectivity, cybersecurity, depot equipment and 30 years of operations and maintenance services, including HealthHubTM for predictive maintenance and fleet management. Groupe PMM is also responsible for train and system integration tests.
17 July 2023 – Alstom (OTC: ALSMY), global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, and Akiem European rolling stock leasing company have signed a framework contract for 100 Traxx Universal multi-system (MS3) locomotives. The firm part of the order includes 65 locomotives. The total amount of the framework agreement is up 500 million euros. Akiem confirms its leadership on the leasing European market and its ambition to contribute to the rail market’s accelerating activities, with major investment on corridors from France to 12 other European countries.
The Traxx Multi-system locomotives benefit from optimised energy consumption and can run both Freight and Passenger operations at a speed of up to 160 kilometres per hour. They will cover operations in 12 European countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia. As a unique feature for multi-system locomotives, a part of them will be delivered with the last mile feature enabling to access ports, terminals or industrial sites without the need of a shunting locomotive.
All locomotives will be equipped with the leading signalling system ATLAS, Alstom’s onboard solution for the European Train Control System (ETCS). This system comes with the broadest coverage of countries and lines, both in ETCS as well as for legacy system operation, and superior two-out-of-three architecture.
Final assembly is planned to take place at the Alstom site in Kassel, Germany. Deliveries of the units are scheduled to take place between 2025 and 2028.
Madrid, Spain, July 7th, 2023 – Egypt’s National Railway company (ENR) has recently confirmed the entry of the sixth and last Intercity trains into commercial operation for daytime services on the line that connects Alexandria with Cairo and Aswan. With this approval, the delivery of the rolling stock that makes up the fleet supplied by Talgo has been made official more than five months ahead of schedule.
The first train of this project started operating in December 2022. Since then, the rest of the trains have been delivered to the Egyptian operator and have gradually entered service at a rate of, approximately, one train composition per month. The trains, which belong to the Talgo 230 platform for Intercity or Long-Distance services, run at a maximum commercial speed of 160 km/h and have a capacity of approximately 500 passengers each.
The ENR units consist of a diesel-electric locomotive, a technical car and 14 towed passenger cars. The contract, worth 158 million euros, also includes complete maintenance for, at least, eight years, employing local personnel trained by the Spanish manufacturer.
The interior of these trains has been designed based on Talgo’s experience in high comfort long-distance compositions and services, such as the ones supplied for the Mecca-Medina high-speed line in Saudi Arabia. They are equipped with interior air conditioning certified for extreme temperatures, an onboard Wi-Fi platform throughout the train, and infotainment systems with LED screens in each of the first-class seats.
State-owned ENR launched the tender process in August 2016 as part of a project funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with the final bidding phase closing in October 2018.
Although Talgo is primarily known for its very high-speed trains that operate at over 300km/h (in fact, it is the company with the highest market share in the competitive Spanish market), it has more than 80 years of experience in the manufacture and maintenance of conventional rolling stock.
KiwiRail and Auckland Transport are already making changes to address issues raised by a report into track damage through Rolling Contact Fatigue that led to widespread speed restrictions across the Auckland rail network.
The Auckland RCF Working Group Root Cause Assessment Report, prepared for KiwiRail and Auckland Transport, identified multiple causes, with historic underinvestment in Auckland’s rail track infrastructure identified as one of the key factors. The report also pointed to insufficient rail grinding, poor underlying track condition, the design of the EMU trains and the wheel rail interface. Auckland’s climate is also another likely contributor.
KiwiRail Chief Operating Officer Todd Moyle acknowledged the report’s findings, and said work was already well advanced to implement recommendations made in the report.
Todd Moyle says that 130km of rail was replaced in just seven months and KiwiRail is now working through the second phase to repair the more complex sections of track.
The track remediation work is part of a $1.5 billion programme of work to modernise and improve the Auckland metro rail network. Other projects include the ‘third main’ project to ease congestion and allow for extra services on the busiest part of the network between Westfield and Wiri, the extension of electrification to Pukekohe, and three new stations at Drury and Paerata. When complete, Auckland commuters and freight customers will enjoy a more resilient and reliable network.
Alstom (OTC: ALSMY) will supply 19 five-car MP14 metros with driver’s cab for line 11 of the Île-de-France Mobilités network operated by RATP, for a total value of 132 million euro. This order, which is 100% funded by Île-de-France Mobilités, falls within the framework of the MP14 contract signed in March 2015 between RATP (mandated by Île-de-France Mobilités) and Alstom for the delivery of a maximum of 217 MP14 trains over 15 years, for a total amount of more than 2 billion euro. This contract is part of the Île-de-France Mobilités strategy for the modernisation of all rolling stock on the Île-de-France Mobilités network.
An initial tranche of the MP14 contract included 35 automated metros for line 14, consisting of eight cars each. A first conditional tranche for 20 additional automated metros, consisting of six cars each, was exercised in January 2017 for line 4. A second option of 20 additional five-car trains (with driver’s cabs) was exercised in February 2018 for line 11.
A state-of-the-art metro, MP14 offers an unprecedented level of comfort and safety thanks to its interior layout and seats with a design based on the theme of the alcove, creating both hospitality and privacy. Vast reception areas offer accessibility to all passengers, with dedicated areas and boomerang-shaped seats to improve the passenger flow and the capacity of the trains. MP14 also has LED lighting efficiently distributed throughout the entire metro to provide a sense of security while eliminating darkly shadowed areas. The supports and steadying points are compliant with safety standards and further increase comfort inside the train. Warm and cool ventilation helps to provide temperature balance, whatever the season. MP14 also provides comprehensive video protection and dynamic passenger information on board.
A special feature of the MP14 metros for line 11 is that the design of the driver’s cab incorporates feedback from previous generations of cabs. Their design features the latest developments in ergonomics and has been validated by RATP drivers and occupational physicians.
MP14 is designed to improve passenger comfort and experience as well as reconcile performance, energy savings and ease of maintenance to keep costs under control throughout its life cycle.
MP14’s 100% electrical braking system recuperates energy and re-injects it into the network as electricity, while limiting the emission of fine particles caused by the mechanical brakes. The system reduces the energy consumption of the metros, as well as air pollution, by up to 20%. MP14 is also 40% quieter than the metros currently in service on line 11, with a 95% recyclability rate.
About 20 automated metros for line 14, consisting of eight cars each, will be delivered by the end of 2021. The first six-car automated metros for line 4 are currently being tested. Production of the first five-car metros for line 11 began in the last quarter of 2020 and the first metro will begin validation tests on RATP tracks this summer.
Eight of Alstom’s sixteen sites in France are involved in this project:
Valenciennes, for the studies, integration, validation, and testing;
Le Creusot, for the bogies;
Ornans, for the engines;
Villeurbanne, for the on-board computerised systems;
The consortium of Stadler and Siemens Mobility have won a €114.5 million contract to provide the Lisbon Metro with a state of the art signaling system and a new fleet of modern trains. Stadler will supply 14 three-car metro trains, while Siemens Mobility will install its Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) system Trainguard MT on the Blue, Yellow and Green lines, and will upgrade the existing equipment. This will include installing its on-board CBTC technology across 70 trains of the existing fleet, as well as on the 14 new Stadler trains.
The contract includes technical training for operation and maintenance, as well as preventive and corrective maintenance of all equipment for the first three years, and the supply of spares and consumables for preventive maintenance for a further two years. The supply period agreed is 77 months, with provisional acceptance planned for 2027.
Stadler will design the vehicles using a modular methodology to better facilitate maintenance. Its stainless- steel car body ensures the vehicles are lightweight and strong. Three double doors per side and carriage will enable passengers to get on and off quickly and easily.
The 14 three-car trains will initially be fitted with CBTC GoA2 but will have the ability to be upgraded to GoA4, so the service can be fully automated in future. Trains will be powered by third rail at 750 V. The 49.6m long and 2.78m wide vehicles will have 90 seats arranged longitudinally, two places for wheelchair users, and
standing capacity for 450 people (6p/m2). The new rolling stock will increase comfort and accessibility for passengers, as well as provide enhanced communications, safety, and video surveillance systems.
Siemens Mobility CBTC signaling technology provides real-time data on vehicle position and speed conditions operating in moving block principle, allowing system operators to safely increase the number of vehicles on a rail line. This results in greater frequency of train arrivals and allows more passengers to be accommodated on the system. This is the most extensively deployed automatic train control system in the world and is currently being used in Singapore, Turkey, Brazil, Spain, and China.
SBB is improving its services for travelling with bicycles for the 2021 cycling season. It is taking this step in response to strong demand and to insufficient capacity last summer. On key leisure travel lines (Bern to Brig, Zurich to Chur) SBB is tripling capacity at times of high demand from 21 March. SBB will offer customers with bicycles more reliable journey planning: thanks to reservations, passengers taking along bikes can be sure that they will find space for them on trains. The price of bicycle reservations is reduced from CHF 5 to CHF 2. SBB presented the improved services to cycling, consumer and industry organisations today and outlined future prospects for traveling with bikes.
There has been a sharp increase in demand for travelling with bikes and holidays in Switzerland due to the coronavirus crisis. In some cases this has led to capacity shortages and dissatisfied customers who were unable to travel with their bike on the train they had planned to use. Around 80,000 Bike Day Passes were sold in the peak month of July 2020, for example, which is up by around 45% compared to the previous year. SBB also transported up to 15,000 bikes with self-service loading on the main axes of Zurich to Chur and Bern to Brig.
SBB expects demand for travel with bikes to continue to rise and is responding to this trend. This is why – together with Pro Velo and the Swiss Transport and Environment Association – it engaged in broad-based dialogue with cycling stakeholders as well as consumer and industry organisations on the issue of ‘sustainable travel with bicycles’. The aim is to offer customers reliable journey planning and reservations, to further improve and simplify services and to make them even more customer-friendly. SBB has a duty of responsibility towards all customers and wishes to provide services that meet and take account of the needs of all passengers as far as possible – including, for example, people with disabilities or families.
In view of the forthcoming cycling season, which begins on 21 March, SBB has introduced various changes to make travelling with bikes easier:
SBB is increasing capacity for the self-service loading of bicycles at times of high demand on the key leisure travel lines, tripling capacity compared to the current levels where possible. These routes include Bern to Brig and Zurich to Chur. Additional capacity will also be provided on routes to Ticino, Interlaken and the southern foot of the Jura. Passengers will be assisted with the loading of bicycles by SBB staff on these lines where possible.
In order to expand capacity medium and long-term, SBB is currently assessing which technical measures can be implemented long-term to create additional bicycle spaces on various types of train. Only minor modifications to rolling stock are possible in the short term.
Customers with bicycles need to be able to plan their journey reliably and safely. SBB makes this possible on all Swiss InterCity trains with a reservation costing CHF 2. Passengers who made a reservation can be certain that they will find space for their bike on the trains. Trains are labelled with the well-known bicycle symbol in the online timetable. Bikes can only be transported using self-service loading on trains labelled with this symbol if a reservation has been made and a valid bike ticket is presented. Reservations can be made up until shortly before departure in the SBB Mobile app. They can also be purchased at the counter or several days in advance via the SBB Contact Center
(tel. 0848 44 66 88)
The price for reservations will be reduced from CHF 5 to CHF 2 for a continuous connection – for example for a route with more than one section. International trains within Switzerland can now also be used for bike transport with a reservation, but prices and booking options may differ. Bikes can be transported with a valid bicycle ticket but without a reservation on regional services (R, S, RE trains) as well as on InterRegio trains (IR).
Rolls-Royce has signed an agreement to sell the Bergen Engines medium speed gas and diesel engines business to TMH International, the international branch of TMH Group, for net proceeds of approximately EUR 150m.
TMH Group, based in Russia, is a leading engineering company in rail transport technologies and the world’s fourth largest supplier of rail rolling stock. It offers a full range of products and services including medium-speed engines for rail applications with current production of more than 850 engines a year. Established in 2002, TMH is privately-owned and employs 100,000 people across 25 sites worldwide. The acquisition of Bergen Engines, based in Bergen, Norway, is part of TMH’s strategy to diversify its business activities, expand its product portfolio and international footprint.
Bergen Engines will be operated as a stand-alone business by TMH International, which is headquartered in Switzerland. TMH International already operates in Argentina, Cuba, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Israel and South Africa.
The agreement follows a strategic review by Rolls-Royce of Bergen Engines announced in February 2020. The sale includes the medium speed engine factory, service workshop and foundry in Norway; engine and power plant design capability; and a global service network spanning more than seven countries. Since 1946, Bergen Engines has supplied over 7,000 engines to marine and power generation customers worldwide, of which around 4,000 are still in operation. Bergen Engines’ long-term relationship with Kongsberg Maritime, distributor of Bergen medium speed engines to the maritime market, is planned to continue as is.
Rolls-Royce has signed an agreement to sell the Bergen Engines medium speed gas and diesel engines business to TMH International, the international branch of TMH Group, for net proceeds of approximately EUR 150m.
Bergen Engines plant in Hordvikneset near Bergen, Norway
TMH Group, based in Russia, is a leading engineering company in rail transport technologies and the world’s fourth largest supplier of rail rolling stock. It offers a full range of products and services including medium-speed engines for rail applications with current production of more than 850 engines a year. Established in 2002, TMH is privately-owned and employs 100,000 people across 25 sites worldwide. The acquisition of Bergen Engines, based in Bergen, Norway, is part of TMH’s strategy to diversify its business activities, expand its product portfolio and international footprint.
Bergen Engines will be operated as a stand-alone business by TMH International, which is headquartered in Switzerland. TMH International already operates in Argentina, Cuba, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Israel and South Africa.
The agreement follows a strategic review by Rolls-Royce of Bergen Engines announced in February 2020. The sale includes the medium speed engine factory, service workshop and foundry in Norway; engine and power plant design capability; and a global service network spanning more than seven countries. Since 1946, Bergen Engines has supplied over 7,000 engines to marine and power generation customers worldwide, of which around 4,000 are still in operation. Bergen Engines’ long-term relationship with Kongsberg Maritime, distributor of Bergen medium speed engines to the maritime market, is planned to continue as is.
Bergen Engines has been a part of Rolls-Royce since 1999 and has approximately 950 employees, with the majority based in Bergen, Norway. In 2019 the business generated revenues of £239m which were consolidated within the results of our Power Systems business.
The transaction has been approved by the boards of both Rolls-Royce and TMH and is expected to close in the second half of 2021.
