Alstom secures major rail contracts in Canada and France

Alstom has secured a major contract worth approximately 3 billion euros (4.7 billion Canadian dollars) to renew a portion of VIA Rail Canada’s long-distance passenger fleet. The agreement includes the manufacturing of 313 new passenger cars, valued at roughly 4 billion Canadian dollars, alongside 700 million Canadian dollars for technical support and spare parts over a 15-year period. These trains will serve eight major national lines connecting nearly 400 communities, including Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

The project will be distributed across Canadian facilities: design and engineering will take place in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec; car body manufacturing will occur in La Pocatière, Quebec; and final assembly will be completed in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The new fleet is designed for extreme weather and speeds between 120 and 200 km/h.

Separately, Alstom announced that its Belfort site in France has been selected to produce a new range of shunting locomotives. These engines, designed for short-distance wagon repositioning in freight yards, ports, and industrial sites, aim to address the aging European locomotive fleet and support European Union decarbonization goals.