The French Government and Alstom have set-out new plans for maintenance of rail and industrial activities at the company’s Belfort site to protect 400 jobs.
The company is currently performing diversification of the Belfort site relating to service and maintenance activities.
In October, the French Government intervened in a plan to downsize the Belfort plant with an order for 21 TGV Euroduplex and 20 shunting locomotives to maintain activities and help the company safeguard 400 jobs at the factory.
Bloomberg previously reported the company’s plans to cease operations at the plant following a fall in orders.
Since October, Alstom has invested €1m in a new industrial building for the maintenance of TGV trainsets, with financial support from local authorities and the state.
The French Government proposes supporting the programme to develop a new range of locomotives for €4m through investment, which represents €30m, directly benefitting the Belfort site.
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By GlobalDataAlstom chairman and CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge said: "Investments have begun both for new service infrastructure and development programmes for the rail vehicles of the future.
“We note with interest the clarifications made regarding the order schedule, also announced on 4 October, which should ensure the continuity of industrial production on the sites of Belfort, La Rochelle and Reichshoffen."
The process of definitive validation of the order for 30 regional Trains d’équilibre du Territoire (TET) trains has been initiated and will be registered with SNCF Mobilités in December alongside SNCF’s order for six TGV trainsets for the Paris-Milan line.
The order for 15 TGV trainsets for the Bordeaux-Marseille line will be submitted in January and the order for 20 emergency locomotives will be confirmed by March next year.
France’s Secretary of State for Industry Christophe Sirugue said: "Through the concrete implementation of the announcements made on 4 October, the government shows that it is fulfilling its commitments to the sustainability of the Belfort site and to defend the knowhow and expertise of the French railway industry.
“Two projects must be jointly carried out: in the short-term, the development of service activities and orders that secure the workload, and in the long-term, investment in railway equipment of the future.”