Philippe Mellier's press conference at InnoTrans
2006
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Philippe Mellier reminded the audience that ALSTOM Transport
is the most profitable railway company. ALSTOM Transport is No.
1 in the field of High-Speed and Pendular trains and No. 2 in
the field of subways and tramways, commuter and regional
trains, services, signalling and systems.
In 2006, the budget allotted to upstream research increased
by 60%, taking the annual investments in this field to 150
million Euros for the coming three years. To this a minimum of
5% of the turnover is added, allocated to new developments for
projects undertaken, and recruitment of more than 1000 new
collaborators in 2005, mainly intended for the engineering
fields.
Philippe Mellier reminded also that the greatest technical
innovations in the railway domain are meaningful only if they
are dedicated to the service of travellers and if they meet the
expectations of operators. Linking men faster and faster,
improving quality of life on board, protecting passengers and
securing journeys, preserving the environment are everyday
challenges. Development of new solutions should also integrate
new market constraints such as cost of energy or the increase
in traffic volume.
By placing the passenger at the heart of its innovation
strategy, ALSTOM intends to continuously offer additional
services to travellers while guaranteeing the most competitive
solution for clients. The modularity of the ALSTOM range is one
of the components of this competitiveness. The AGV, the new
PENDOLINO, the CORADIA Lint, the CITADIS tramway were designed
in the most modular fashion possible and meet capacity
requirements of operators by upgrading their fleet during
utilisation. Thus, a CITADIS tramway can be extended by 30, 40
or 50 meters if the passenger volume increases. The AGV range
will be produced from 3-car modules that shall comprise 2 or 3
motor bogies. The length of the train set could thus vary from
140 m to 300 m for a capacity of between 300 and 600 seats
according to the facilities retained.
The question&answer session which followed the press
conference, gave Philippe Mellier he opportunity, after
Anne-Marie Idrac, President of SNCF declaration, to confirm
ALSTOM Transport's participation in very-high speed trials
conducted by SNCF and RFF. The trials, which started on
September 18 and are scheduled to continue for three weeks,
involve two Mediterranean TGV train sets. They are aimed at
measuring noise, braking systems, aerodynamics but also the
behaviour of the track, the ballast and the pantograph during
accelerations.
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