. Alstom, , withdrew yesterday the offer that the Canadian firm had presented in consortium with the Spanish manufacturer for the supply of 146 trains for “unfeasible”. A decision that has created discomfort in the Autonomous Administration of Parisian Transport (RATP), SNCF and CAF, and that will end up in court.
“We analyzed the offer technically and financially and we came to the conclusion that it was not viable. My responsibility as a business leader is not to embark the group on an adventure that cannot be crowned with success. Therefore, I made this decision, which had serious consequences for Alstom and for our relations with RATP”, says Henri Poupart-Lafarge, president of Alstom, in an interview with Le Figaró published yesterday. The French manufacturer’s offer was about 600 million euros higher.
“We analyzed the offer technically and financially and we came to the conclusion that it was not viable. My responsibility is not to embark the group on an adventure that cannot be crowned with success,” says Poupart-Lafarge
A few hours after these statements were made public, RATP and SNCF “strongly” criticized the decision and announced legal action against the French giant, which has been almost its only supplier of rolling stock throughout history. “The RATP SNCF Voyageurs consortium is ready to initiate all legal actions against Alstom-Bombardier, given the commitment assumed by the Bombardier-CAF consortium when presenting the firm offer,” says the operator of the Parisian suburban trains, belonging to Ile de France , in a press release.
The company chaired by Andrés Arizkorreta has limited itself to reiterating its willingness to “carry out the contract” and comply with the offer presented, whose future is more than up in the air. Thus, while waiting to see what happens in the courts, it is not known if Paris could choose to repeat the tender or leave it only in the hands of CAF, which could have industrial capacity problems to carry it out within the terms and conditions offered. The contract, awarded in mid-January, should have been signed on the 25th of last month, but Alstom halted it.
“The RATP SNCF Voyageurs consortium is ready to start all legal actions against Alstom-Bombardier,” says the operator
At the moment, it seems that RATP is inclined to comply with the agreement, since it has insisted that on January 4 the Canadian Hispanic consortium signed the last offer for the renewal of the trains of the RER B line, which connects the center of Paris and Charles de Gaulle, agreeing to execute it in the event of adjudication and that Alstom has to take over all Bombardier’s contracts and commitments when acquiring it. Likewise, it indicates that the firm offer does not contemplate renegotiation of the terms and has accused the gala of .
“We are surprised by Alstom-Bombardier’s withdrawal of the offer just one day before the hearing is to be held before the Administrative Court which was supposed, at Alstom’s request, to rule on the feasibility of the offer, on the basis of the documents presented”, point out the Parisian manager and the French railway operator.
On this point, Poupart-Lafarge has not hesitated to reiterate that there are irregularities that should have annulled the offer of the Canadian Hispanic consortium and has lashed out at CAF, a company with which it seems that it has no desire to carry out a contract of this caliber. .
“We found irregularities that should have disqualified this offer. The width of the proposed trains does not meet the standards and the bogies proposed by CAF have never been offered,” says Alstom
“We found irregularities that should have disqualified this offer. For example, the width of the proposed trains does not meet the standards and the bogies proposed by CAF have never been offered. CAF has already had problems with the development of new ones,” he assured, making reference to some problems that the companies had in Brazil with a small contract and which, according to market sources, has nothing to do with the ability of the Spanish manufacturer to work in a consortium or produce bogies.
At this point, Renta 4 analysts have pointed out that it is not a good idea to carry out a project of this magnitude with a new partner with whom nothing has been agreed and who has already shown strong animosity for both the project and by the capacities of CAF, which recently ruled out buying the Alstom plant in Reicsoffen, a divestment that it has to do before July to comply with the competition conditions for the Bombardier purchase.
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