Rolling stock & Rail Vehicle Design

Unconfirmed reports of Bombardier and Alstom in merger talks

Neither Bombardier nor Alstom have confirmed reports published by Bloomberg, that the two rail companies are discussing a potential merger.

An unnamed source told Bloomberg that the French rollingstock manufacturer and Canadian train maker have been in talks over the past few months.

A spokesperson for Bombardier told Rail Express said the company does not comment on market gossip.

A spokesperson for Alstom also noted that the company does not comment on market speculation.

The reports published in Bloomberg had an immediate impact on the share prices of both companies, with Alstom shares rising by 2 per cent in Paris, and Bombardier shares ending 5.7 per cent higher in Toronto.

In Australia, both companies have a major presence, with Alstom recently announced as the manufacturer of the rollingstock for Perth’s Metronet project. With a 50 per cent local content requirement, the company has committed to building the trains at a manufacturing facility in Bellevue. Alstom’s light rail vehicles are running on the recently opened Sydney light rail line.

Bombardier’s Australian presence is spread across all states except Tasmania, and the company has manufacturing facilities in Victoria and WA.

Bombardier, which also manufactures aircraft, had previously been in talks with German rail manufacturer Siemens about merging, however the Munich-based rail manufacturer then swapped to negotiate with Alstom. The EU subsequently blocked this merger based on antitrust laws.

On Monday, January 20, Bombardier announced that it would provide maintenance for 656 high-speed train cars in China, on top of a joint-venture contract to build 160 new high-speed cars in China.