France to Support Alstom

The plan to maintain the railway and industrial activities at the plant will enable the company to protect 400 jobs at the factory.

Recently, Alstom announced plans to cease operations at the plant due to a slump in orders, Bloomberg reported.

Alstom said that the alternative plan includes announcements of orders, development of services activities and investments for diversification of the Belfort site. Orders have also been received for 30 intercity trains.

All these measures will allow development of maintenance and services activities on the site.

Alstom aims to modernise operations with the aim of employing 150 people by 2019 in these activities.

Alstom chairman and CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge said: “I am pleased by the announcements that have just been made and by the mobilisation of all stakeholders in order to find an industrial future for Belfort site and to consolidate the workload on other sites in France.

“Moreover, the fact that a strategic committee for the industry will be held soon is excellent news for the whole railway sector.”

Separately, Alstom said it has delivered the first of the new Citadis trams for Strasbourg transport company Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois (CTS) after signing an agreement in 2014 for supply of 50 trams.

The 45m-long trams have the capacity for 288 passengers, are equipped with LED lighting and full glass doors, and will be added to CTS’s existing fleet as part of the extensions to lines A and D.

The trams are mainly manufactured in France, with the Salzgitter site in Germany supplying the bogies located underneath driver cabins.