Bombardier Inc said on Wednesday it would “evaluate” its options, after losing a $989 million rail order in Canada when state-owned Via Rail picked Germany’s Siemens AG to supply new locomotives.
This is the second deal the Canadian plane-and-train maker has lost out on its home turf, after France’s Alstom SA won a contract to supply rail cars to one of the world’s biggest light rail systems in Montreal, according to Reuters.
However, Bombardier spokeswoman Maryanne Roberts said the New Jersey Transit (NJT) board had approved a separate deal with the company, without giving further details since the deal had not been finalized.
Also, Bombardier Inc’s Chinese joint venture told Reuters today that it had won a $453 million contract to supply 168 high-speed train cars to state-owned China Railway Corp (CRC).
The Chinese joint venture, Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd (BST), is 50 per cent owned by Chinese locomotive firm CRRC Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co Ltd.
In September, CRC had awarded the Bombardier JV an initial contract worth $324 million to supply 120 train cars by end of this year.
Bombardier was in the race for the NJ Transit order worth $669 million to make 113 cars. The contract could be worth up to $3.6 billion for 999 cars over several years if all options are exercised.
The company already works with the largest statewide public transportation system in the United States, which has over 900,000 daily riders, on other projects. Bombardier Transportation, the company’s largest unit by revenue with a $34 billion backlog, aims to lower costs and boost margins by expanding its more lucrative signalling and services business.
(Reuters)
Print this page
