FRANCE: Alstom has announced an ‘unprecedented’ plan to invest more than €150m to increase production capacity to meet the French and international demand for its Avelia very high speed trainsets and deliver on its ongoing commitments.
The plan announced on April 4 includes:
- €30m to create an assembly line for Avelia high speed trains at the Valenciennes Petite-Forêt site;
- doubling Avelia bodyshell and assembly lines at La Rochelle;
- continuing investments in digitalisation and simulation, including at the TrainLab in La Rochelle to help reduce the testing time for new trains;
- a 250 m long building at the Belfort site able to accommodate a complete Avelia Horizon trainset for commissioning;
- investments in component manufacturing sites at Petit Quevilly, Ornans, Tarbes and Le Creusot, including robotics and advanced welding;
- investments in the supply chain.
Alstom expects to recruit at least 1 000 people in France in 2025 and generate or secure more than 2 500 jobs at French suppliers.
‘The very high speed market is currently experiencing strong growth, and Alstom is delighted to see the growing interest in the Avelia Horizon double-deck high speed train, a truly unique offering on the market’, said President of Alstom France Frédéric Wiscart. ‘This unprecedented programme for the group will enable us to meet our current commitments and strengthen Alstom’s industrial base with innovative technologies stemming from Industry 4.0 to better serve customers.’
Alstom has orders to supply Avelia Horizon trains to SNCF Voyageurs, which brands them TGV M, as well as to Morocco’s national railway ONCF and to French open access start-up Proxima.
