Alstom delivers 200th double-decker train to France

[IMAGE]Alstom2resize.jpg[/IMAGE]Tuesday, Alstom Transport delivered the 200th Coradia Duples TER 2NNG trainset to the SNCF at its Lyon Perrache station, the 60th for the Rhône-Alpes region in France. The delivery is a part of an investment program signed between Alstom and the SNCF in September 2000 and financed by the French regions.

The program's aim is to renew the TER fleet. Two hundred thirty-three Coradia Duplex TER 2NNG trainsets have been ordered for certain regions of France (Centre, Haute-Normandie, Lorraine, Nord-Pas de Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardie, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur and Rhône-Alpes) and for Luxembourg operator CFL at a cost of more than $2.7 billion.

The trainset presented at the Lyon Perrache train station is a part of Alstom's Coradia Duplex range, which is notable for its reliability and performance (160 km/h), on-board comfort, "service spaces" (bicycle holders), modularity and accessibility. The Coradia Duplex also meets environmental protection requirements, in particular with its 95 percent recyclable body.

Nearly 280 Coradia Duplex trainsets have been ordered to date worldwide: in addition to 233 trainsets for France and Luxembourg, Alstom has delivered 43 X40 trainsets to Swedish operator SJ.

Alstom Transport designs and assembles the Coradia Duplex at its Valenciennes manufacturing site, which is specialized in bi-level trains and metros. Alstom's sites in Tarbes, Villeurbanne, Le Creusot and Ornans in France and Charleroi, Belgium are also involved in the execution of this contract. In cooperation with Alstom, Bombardier participates in the manufacture of certain cars for these trains.