New Alstom manufacturing plant in Canada

Sorel-Tracy, Friday May 18, 2012 Today, the Société des parcs industriels Sorel-Tracy (SPIST) launched construction of the new Alstom manufacturing plant in the Ludger-Simard industrial park in Canada, with Sorel-Tracy mayor Mr. Réjean Dauplaise and Mr. Sylvain Simard, Richelieu member of the National Assembly in attendance.

This new plant, slated for completion next fall, supports Alstom Transports role in the C$1.2 billion contract between a Bombardier-Alstom Consortium and the Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) for the manufacture of 468 new metro cars.  In accordance with STM requirements, each train must be made using 60% Canadian content.

Alstoms work at the new Sorel-Tracy site will be dedicated to assembling and integrating the trucks  for Montreals new subway cars. The truck assemblies include propulsion systems and the well-known wooden shoe braking system.  Alstoms local activities will create approximately 60 direct jobs and involve many area suppliers.

Business activities are moving forward in accordance with the agreement between the Bombardier-Alstom Consortium and the Société de transport de Montréal regarding the manufacture and delivery of the first train, expected to be up and running in 2014, declared Claude Lambert, ALSTOM Énergie & Transport Canada Vice-President and General Manager.  With this new modern industrial building, Alstom finds itself in an excellent position to meet the operational and technical requirements of its North American customers, such as STM, by supplying them with state of the art public transportation equipment and technology.

For SPIST, this investment of over $ 5M is the culmination of a great deal of effort and fits in perfectly with the companys economic development plan through the implementation of real estate projects.  On a regional level, this project fills a unique, currently underdeveloped niche and will contribute to the diversification of the economic fabric, emphasized Mr. Benoît Soucy, agency chairman.

Not to be outdone, Mayor Réjean Dauplaise stated, The City of Sorel-Tracy firmly believes in this new industrial buildings potential, which is why city council did not hesitate to support this Société des parcs industriels Sorel-Tracy project last December.  In fact, the City of Sorel-Tracy supported the Société des parcs by acting as guarantor for an amount of $3.2 M, a decision approved unanimously by council members.

The 55,000 square foot plant, designed by its Director, Mr. Jean-François Nadeau, Engineer, and the Architect Eric Champagne, will be a turnkey project, built by Construction Sorel.  Mr. Marcel Fafard, Engineer and Project Manager, will supervise construction.

In addition to the Sorel-Tracy site, Alstoms facility in Montreal will supply traction, train monitoring, communication, passenger information and video-surveillance systems. In all, over 300 Alstom employees will have participated in the design, manufacture and implementation of the new STM subway cars over the 8-year term of the agreement.

About the Société des parcs industriels Sorel-Tracy

The Société des parcs industriels Sorel-Tracys goal is to develop industrial infrastructures whereby companies can have solid foundations that will form the basis for future growth. In real terms, the Société is an agency that aims to equip the Sorel-Tracy region with operational and competitive infrastructures that will promote business growth.  This is how the Société takes an active role in the creation of high-quality jobs and contributes when it comes to strengthening the regional economy.

About Alstom

Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The Group employs 92,000 people in around 100 countries. It had sales of 20 billion and booked close to 22 billion in orders in 2011/12.