FRENCH National Railways awarded a €836m contract for 400 diesel-electric freight locomotives to a consortium of Alstom and Siemens Transportation Systems on February 11, two days after placing a separate €170m order with Alstom for 60 Prima electric locos.
As consortium leader, Alstom will supply mechanical parts for the 1600 kW freight locos and assemble them at Belfort. Siemens will be responsible for the traction package, including MTU engines, and will manufacture 130 bodyshells in München. The order includes an option for another 100 locos.
Delivery of the 84 tonne, 120 km/h Bo-Bos will run from mid-2006 to 2015. They will replace existing diesel locos within France, but SNCF also plans to seek certification for them to run on the German network.
The 60 electric locos will be similar to the BB 427000 series being supplied to Fret SNCF, and will be assembled at Belfort using parts from Alstom factories at Tarbes, Villeurbanne, Le Creusot and Ornans. The 4200 kW dual-system locos will enter service around Paris from spring 2006. The 90 tonne Bo-Bos are intended to power refurbished double-deck push-pull suburban trains at up to 140 km/h. n
