French transport company Alstom signed a contract with Australia amounting to 300 million (around $351.2 million) to build 25 trains, the company said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2021) French transport company Alstom signed a contract with Australia amounting to 300 million (around $351.2 million) to build 25 trains, the company said on Monday.
"Following the budget announcement by the Victorian State government on 18th May, today Alstom signed a ��300m contract with Victoria's Department of Transport (DoT) to locally supply 25 six-car X'trapolis trains for Melbourne's suburban rail network," the company said in a press release.
The project will be in the works for two years, according to the contract, and the trains will be added to Melbourne's existing rail infrastructure.
"The new trains, in line with Alstom's strategy to deliver greener and more sustainable mobility, will be more accessible, reliable and energy efficient," the report adds.
The trains will be manufactured in Australia's Victoria by using at least 60% of local produce and will introduce a number of employment opportunities including apprenticeships and trainee schemes.
"Following the successful delivery of Melbourne's most reliable trains from our facility in Ballarat over the past 20 years, we look forward to working with the State and all of our local partners to deliver the next generation of X'trapolis trains, creating a new icon for railway passengers across Melbourne and the State of Victoria," the company's Managing Director in Australia and New Zealand Mark Coxon said.
The news comes after Australia quit a bilateral deal with France over the supply of 12 conventionally powered submarines and announced a defense partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States, dubbed AUKUS, where Washington and London will supply Canberra with nuclear-propelled submarines. The move caused a rough patch in Australia-France relationship and forced Paris to recall its ambassadors from the US and Australia.
