UK Department for Transport reaches agreement with Alstom
for supply and maintenance of Pendolino high-speed tilting
trains

The notice to proceed for rolling stock, worth 318
million (£255 million), will cover the delivery of four
Pendolino trains. The West Coast Main Line fleet, currently
composed of 52 trains built and maintained by Alstom since 2003
and operated by private operator Virgin, will therefore
comprise 56 trains after this delivery.



The new trains with eleven cars each will be put into service
in 2011 and 2012. To meet the needs of the growing number of
passengers on the West Coast Main Line, 31 of the trains in the
fleet currently in service will also be lengthened by two cars
each, for a total of 11 cars per train. This will raise their
capacity to 589 passengers each. These lengthened trains will
be put into service between April and December 2012.



The agreement provides for an option to be exercised by
August 2010 for the 21 remaining trains to be
lengthened to 11 cars as well.


The four new Pendolino trains and the cars required to lengthen
the existing trains will be manufactured at Alstom's centre of
excellence for high-speed models in Savigliano, Italy. The
train lengthening will take place at Alstom's maintenance
centre in Liverpool.


Regarding the maintenance of the Pendolino fleet, the
1.5 billion (£1.25 billion) notice to proceed
covers maintenance of the Pendolino fleet and would extend the
current contract by ten years beginning on 1 April 2012, the
date on which the contract with private operator Virgin Trains
expires. Maintenance will be performed at the five Alstom
Traincare Centres along the West Coast Main Line.



"This agreement confirms the success of the Pendolino," said
Philippe Mellier, President of Alstom Transport. Since 2003,
when the Pendolino was put into service on the West Coast Main
Line by Virgin Trains, the number of passengers has risen 40%.
With this agreement, Alstom will play a role in increasing the
UK rail system's capacity. We are committed to providing UK
railways with ongoing high-performance maintenance services
just as we've been doing since 2003 for our customer
Virgin Trains."


About Alstom Transport

With sustainable transport in mind, Alstom Transport
develops and offers the most complete range of systems,
equipment and services on the rail market. Alstom Transport is
capable of managing an entire transport system, from rolling
stock to signalling and infrastructure, as well as offering
turnkey solutions.


Alstom Transport's Pendolino

The tilting trains in Alstom's Pendolino range
operate at 200 km per hour. The Pendolino is equipped with
Tiltronix technology, a tilting system guaranteeing passenger
comfort and safety when the train takes curves at high speeds.
Moreover, the energy saved in braking means that the Pendolino
consumes 17% less electricity than trains with a conventional
braking system. The fleet is also outfitted with the "e-train"
maintenance system, which anticipates maintenance needs and
relays them to maintenance teams via GPRS, thereby improving
train availability.


Since its launch in 1998, Alstom's Pendolino has been a true
success, covering over 200 million kilometres in commercial
service worldwide. It is already in operation in ten countries:
the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Czech
Republic, Switzerland, Slovenia, Portugal, Spain and Finland.
Russia will join the list in 2010 with the inauguration of the
high-speed St. Petersburg-Helsinki line.


Press contact

Philippe Kasse, Stéphane Farhi (Corporate)


Tel +33 1 41 49 29 82 /33 08

philippe.kasse@chq.alstom.com
stephane.farhi@chq.alstom.com


Cécile Dodat (Transport)


Tel + 33 1 41 66 91 48

cecile.dodat@transport.alstom.com

Investor Relations

Emmanuelle Châtelain


Tel + 33 1 41 49 37 38

investor.relations@chq.alstom.com

Websites
www.alstom.com
www.transport.alstom.com