Alstom Transport opens a new delivery centre for Euroduplex trains at Belfort site

Jérôme Wallut, the Managing Director of Alstom Transport France, today opened a new delivery centre for very high-speed Euroduplex trains at the Belfort site, in the presence of Yves Ackermann, President of the Departmental General Council, Damien Meslot, Member of the French Parliament, Senator Jean-Pierre Chevènement, Etienne Butzbach, Mayor of Belfort, and Jean-Robert Lopez, Prefect of Belfort.

The new delivery centre – which is equipped with an inspection pit 200 metres long – is the result of four years’ work, and is part of a global programme for supplying SNCF with trains that are ready for passengers as soon as they are delivered. The centre will make it possible to work beneath the train, inspect the running gear and brakes and carry out roof operations on the whole length of the train.

The Euroduplex availability targets require Alstom to exercise tighter control over its testing and commissioning cycles. The ability to accommodate trains over the pit and provide direct access to the rail infrastructure has become a key element of the industrial process for train manufacturers working for SNCF.

Located at the junction between three frontiers (France, Switzerland and Germany) and close to the recently-opened Rhine-Rhône high-speed line, the Belfort site will be able to carry out all the steps of the testing process at the point where trains arrive on the European high-speed network. This phase will be fully effective once the line between the inspection pit and the main lines at Belfort station is electrified.

By extending its activities and developing its infrastructure, Alstom aims to offers its clients all the operations required before trains can enter commercial service.