The date for the auction related to the acquisition of trains for the new subway line has not been set, yet, but Alstom’s interest shows the French company wants to cement its footing in Romania and sell its own rolling stock in Romania, the second most important market for the group in Eastern Europe, after Poland.
“The delivery of 43 trains for the new line of Metrorex is one of the future development opportunities on the subway segment in Eastern Europe,” stated Valerie Chardon, managing director of Alstom Transport for Eastern Europe.
Should each train be made up of six carriages, following the model of those now operating in Bucharest, winning the contract with Metrorex would translate into an order of around EUR283 million for Alstom plant of Katowice, Poland. A subway carriage costs around EUR1.1 million, according to the company’s representatives.
Alstom is thus the first rolling stock producer voicing its interest in M5 line, a hige project envisaging the construction of a 17-km subway line linking Drumul Taberei and Pantelimon districts. At present, the first 6.22-km section is under construction. The contract for the building of the section is worth EUR215 million and investments for this year stand at RON436.2 million (almost EUR100 million).
Works were halted last year for several months on the lack of money, but they were resumed after the European Commission included the project on the list of EU-funded investments. The first section is due to be completed in mid-2016, according to the latest estimates by the Transport Ministry.
For Alstom, a train order from Bucharest would boost its share of the East-European rolling stock market, whose average annual value is expected to rise from EUR2.1 billion in 2012-2014 to EUR2.4 billion in 2015-2017.
Currently, Bucharest’s subway fleet includes Astra IVA trains manufactured during the 1976-1992 period by Astra Vagoane Arad, and Bombardier Movia trains, built in 2002-2008.
Old trains will be gradually replaced by new CAF trains starting this year. In this context, Alstom says it does not expect contracts for rolling stock beyond the trains for line 5. “For the time being, we do not see opportunities in terms of surface trains and as regards trams we do not have the right product,” said Cherdon.
The company will focus on rail infrastructure works.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)