Christophe Sirugue, minister of state for industry, and Henri Poupart-Lafarge, chairman and CEO of Alstom, presented in Paris the progress of the commitments made by the Government and Alstom for the maintenance of rail and industrial activities at the Belfort site. For the second time, they convened the national monitoring committee, which brings together the State, the management and trade unions of the Alstom group, as well as the elected representatives of the territory of Belfort and the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region. The local committee, bringing together local elected representatives, trade unions, Alstom and the State services in the regions, was convened on 6 February under the authority of the Prefect of the Territory of Belfort.
The diversification of the Belfort site, in particular the services and maintenance activities, continues: since October 2016, Alstom has already invested one million euros in the development of a new industrial building dedicated to maintenance. On 6 February 2017 the State, local authorities, SNCF Réseau and Alstom signed a financing agreement for the electrification of the site’s test track. These investments underline Alstom's decision to create a European locomotive maintenance centre in Belfort.
Akiem, a subsidiary of the SNCF group and Deutsch Asset Management, plans to entrust the maintenance of 23 locomotives to the Belfort site. This choice highlights the commitment to turn the Belfort site into the Alstom group’s centre of reference for locomotive maintenance in Europe. The decision will be formalized by Akiem before 15 March.
In parallel, SNCF Réseau confirms its need for 20 emergency locomotives, the acquisition procedure of which will be decided in the coming weeks. The State will continue to accompany Alstom in the development of the bi-modal locomotives, both through the support of the ADEME for the development of this new platform, decided last autumn and representing four million euros, and through export markets on which the company can position itself.
SNCF Mobilités has confirmed that it will buy 15 Euroduplex TGV trainsets to modernize its train fleet. The acquisition decision will be made at the Board of Directors’ meeting to be held on 23 February. SNCF Mobilités and Alstom are continuing to hold discussions over the trains destined for the Paris-Milan line, their characteristics, the business plan and financing. Key steps have also been taken to develop the TGV of the Future as part of the innovation partnership between Alstom and SNCF.
The acquisition of the thirty regional TET trains (trains d’équilbre du territoire) was decided by the Passengers’ Committee of SNCF Mobilités on 7 December and the financing voted at the AFITF Board of Directors’ meeting on January 31, 2017. Notification of the order will be given before 10 March, just after the signing of the TET agreement between the State and SNCF.
The Government and the Chairman and CEO of Alstom welcome the achievement of several major milestones in the continuity plan for the rail activities of the Belfort site and will continue to pay close attention to its implementation.
Poupart-Lafarge said: ˝In line with the commitments made on 4 October, Alstom is investing in the creation of a European center of excellence for maintenance in Belfort. This is reflected in the implementation of several Alstom investments, including the reconstruction of a test track on the site announced last week.˝
"The implementation of the continuity plan for the railway activities at Belfort is progressing and reflects the strong commitment of the Government to fulfil the commitments made. I am particularly attached to the growth of the new activities of the site, which will participate, alongside orders, in ensuring the continuity of Alstom’s site at Belfort. I will of course pay close attention to the continuation of our collective efforts in this direction," said Sirugue.
