ALSTOM completes the delivery of 18 trains to Warsaw
metro

This contract is part of an extension programme carried out
by the City of Warsaw to meet the growing demand for public
transport in the Polish capital. Following an international
tender in 1998, Warsaw Metro chose ALSTOM for the delivery of
the new rolling stock for the extended line. This contract was
worth 105 million.

The new METROPOLIS trains serve a line with 16 stations
crossing the centre of the Warsaw. The line carries a quarter
of million people daily with trains running at a frequency of 4
minutes. Tomasz Gruca, a student from Warsaw University said :

I like the ALSTOM trains. They are nice, silent and
comfortable. I use the metro every day to go to university and
sometimes on my way home, when I am not in a hurry, I wait a
bit longer to take one of the new trains rather than an old
one.

The supply of this advanced rolling stock is particularly
significant in that it is the first time that new high
technology rolling-stock was successfully introduced into an
infrastructure system designed for a Russian-type metro.
Terence Watson, ALSTOM Senior Vice President for Northern
Europe said :
These trains are among the very best in Europe and part of
ALSTOMs standard METROPOLIS range. They are already in
service in China and Latin America and are perfectly adapted to
other countries, both in the east and west.

The first trainsets were designed in Valenciennes, France,
produced in Spain by ALSTOM, then followed by a successful
technology transfer to ALSTOMs factory in Chorzow,
Poland. The Polish content reached 60% of the total contract
value. Terence Watson said :
In 2000, I attended an inauguration ceremony organized by
the City of Warsaw on the occasion of the delivery of the
imported train-sets, which represented the first part of the
delivery. During this ceremony, I committed to the mayor of
Warsaw and our customer that the whole project including the
localization part would be carried out successfully. Today, I
am particularly proud to say that we reached our ambitious
goal. We succeeded in transferring the technology to our Polish
site in Chorzow and delivered the requested product according
to schedule. Furthermore, we managed to transform our Polish
factory into a modern and strategic production site which,
today, forms part of our integrated supply
chain.

With more than 35 product lines and a presence in more than
60 countries, ALSTOM's Transport sector offers complete
products and services for new rolling stock, signaling, and
electrical and mechanical infrastructure as well as maintenance
and rehabilitation services to four distinct types of
customers: urban transit authorities and operators; intercity
passenger rail operators and rolling stock owners; rail freight
operators; and intercity railway infrastructure owners.
ALSTOM's Transport sector, with sales of 5.1 billion euros in
financial year 2004-2005, is among the world's leading
suppliers to the railway industry.

Press information:


Susanne Trabitzsch


Tel. : +33 (0) 1 41 66 97 16

susanne.trabitzsch@transport.alstom.com