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More metro cars for Montreal

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
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Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) has exercised a $340 million (C$448 million) option on an October 2010 contract with the consortium of Bombardier Transportation and Alstom for 153 additional AZUR rubber-tired metro cars, configured as 17 nine-car trainsets. Bombardier’s share is valued at $213 million (C$281 million), Alstom’s at $127 million (C$167 million).

Most manufacturing and all final assembly will take place at Bombardier’s facility in La Pocatière, in the Bas St-Laurent region of Québec, where manufacturing of the initial STM order is being completed, on schedule. As with the original order, Alstom will supply bogies and traction motors, as well as train control, communications, passenger information and video surveillance systems.

Nearly 170 Bombardier employees will be assigned to this new order, which will also involve 70 employees Alstom’s in Sorel-Tracy plant in southwestern Québec. “With 60% Canadian content, this order will leverage a network of several hundred suppliers across Québec,” the carbuilders noted.

“Through this agreement, STM will benefit from the replacement of part of its fleet at a lower cost,” the consortium said. “Each trainset can accommodate 8% more passengers [than the equipment it’s replacing], which represents thousands of additional riders annually. In addition, the AZUR metro cars have breakthrough features that demonstrate their comfort, reliability and safety. In addition to other elements these include open gangways allowing passengers to walk freely from one end of the train to the other; 27% wider doors for faster passenger entry and exit; an improved ventilation system; a state-of-the-art electronic passenger information system; and onboard cameras and a two-way intercom system connecting passengers with the driver.”

“[This contract] will maintain hundreds of jobs at our plant in La Pocatière, as well as at our North American headquarters in St. Bruno,” said Benoit Brossoit, outgoing President, Americas Region, Bombardier Transportation (who as of Nov. 19 will be replaced by Lee Sander). “This helps to sustain our leadership in the Québec rail ecosystem and to continue our nearly 45-year relationship with STM. The AZUR metro cars, offering a premium mobility experience, have been highly popular ever since they entered service in 2016. They also exceed world-class performance and reliability standards. Globally, Bombardier Transportation moves more than half a billion people every day, and we are particularly proud to share the benefit of our global expertise with Montréal’s population.”

“As part of Alstom’s global center of excellence for bogie manufacturing, our Sorel-Tracy employees are among the most qualified employees in the province, and maintaining their workload is a priority for us,” said Angelo Guercioni, General Manager of Alstom Canada. We are happy to add another project to our current backlog. In addition to providing the bogies, our partnership with STM also extends to the Montréal metro control center. We are delighted to continue working with them on Montréal’s iconic metro system.”

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