Alstom Scores Major Subway & Rail Car Orders

---

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated, Houston, Texas). The 660 heavy rail subway cars to be supplied to The Metropolitan Transportation Authority - New York City (MTA-NYCT) in a $960 million contract awarded to Alstom (PARIS:ALSO, NYSE:ALS US, LSE:ALS LN) (Paris, France) will be built up and tested at the company's manufacturing plant located in Hornell, New York. The contract includes supply of the cars, spare parts, special tools, and training. The body shells will be manufactured at Alstom's plant in Lapa, Brazil.

There are a further two options on the contract for an additional 1,000 to 1,040 cars which would give a total contract value of $2.358 billion if they are exercised by NYC-MTA. Funding for the options is planned for the next MTA five-year capital plan. The contract represents the largest subway car purchase in NYC's history.

In order to attain operational compatibility with the R143 cars currently in service, Alstom and Kawasaki Rail Car, the manufacturer of the R143, have agreed to form a contractual relationship to produce the new R160 cars under this contract. Kawasaki will assemble the R160 cars at its plant in Yonkers, New York.

The stainless steel R160 cars will be configured in five-car units and will be equipped with several high-tech customer amenities, including state-of-the-art air-conditioning systems. As in the R142/142A and R143 cars currently in service, the R160s will have bench style seating with lumbar supports, electronic strip maps, and information signage plus new emergency arrows and increased sound proofing with air bag suspension for a quieter, smoother ride. The base order of 660 of the R160's will be delivered at the beginning of 2006 and will be completed in 2007. They will replace the old R32, 38, 40, and R42 cars, which have been in service since at least 1964.

In June Alstom received a $129 million order for 62 new cars from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA). In July an $85 million contract was awarded to the company by metro Regional de Valparaiso (MERVAL) in Chile for the supply and maintenance of commuter trains linking Valparaiso with surrounding centers. The basic configuration consists of 28 two-car trains with a passenger capacity of 392 and operating speeds up to 120 km/h. These will be manufactured at Alstom's plant at La Rochelle in France. Deliveries will start in March 2005 and operations six months later. Late in July Alstom was selected by Santiago de Chile's Metro line to supply rolling stock, automatic train control equipment, and maintenance in a contract with $250 million including options. The manufacture of the 60 stainless steel cars will be shared by Alstom plants in France and Brazil, with the control system to be supplied from France. The line is scheduled to start commercial operation in late 2005.