Friday July 10, 02:04 PM
SNCF to order 35 TGV rail cars
PARIS (AFP) - The French state railway operator SNCF decided on Friday to order 35 new-generation TGV high-speed rail cars costing more than 1.0 billion euros (1.4 billion dollars), a union source said.
The board decided to open a tender for the rolling stock which would be able to run on track in Germany and France and could enter service in 2015-2016, a source at the CGT union said.
The tender was to be launched in readiness for the opening of European rail passenger service to competition in 2010.
The tender, which might be extended to include options for extra rolling stock, is likely to interest French industrial group Alstom (Paris: FR0010220475 - news) which already builds TGV trains, Siemens (Xetra: 723610 - news) of Germany and also perhaps Bombardier of Canada.
At one point, the SNCF had considered placing a huge order for several hundred TGV rolling stock, but then pulled back from this.
The board of the SNCF also approved a plan to change the status of Eurostar, the operator of high-speed services through the Channel tunnel and between Paris and Brussels which is currently an association of cooperation between the SNCF, Belgian SNCB railways and Eurostar UK of Britain.
The SNCF wants Eurostar to become a full railway operating company with independent legal status.
The SNCF would own 55 percent of a new entity and would therefore have a controlling interest.
An official for the CGT told AFP that the union opposed this plan because the new entity could one day become a direct competitor to the SNCF.
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