French rail orders 48 Bombardier trains

MONTREAL, May 9 (AFP) – Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Transportation said Monday it received an order for an additional 48 regional trains worth an estimated EUR 186 million (USD 239 million) from French National Railways.  

The trains will be manufactured at its Crespin plant in the Northern Valenciennes region in France, increasing production by eight to 10 trains per month, and will be delivered to various regions of the country between February 2007 to March 2009.  

This order follows an announcement in September 2001 that Bombardier would supply SNCF with up to 500 high capacity AGC (Autorail Grande Capacite) trains.  

Three months later, an order for 192 trains was announced, followed by three more orders for 73, 14 and 100 trains, respectively. This latest order brings the total to 427 so far.  

SNCF has put 60 of these in service since January 2004.  

The AGC train is available with either electric or diesel-powered engines, or a combination of both. SNCF’s latest order is the first for dual diesel-electric-powered trains.