Alstom wants to green rail transport

The French giant Alstom has fulfilled one of its commitments in the wake of the purchase of the rail division of Bombardier by creating an innovation center at its headquarters in the Americas, in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville.

Alstom wants to green rail transport

The French giant Alstom has fulfilled one of its commitments in the wake of the purchase of the rail division of Bombardier by creating an innovation center at its headquarters in the Americas, in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville.

The new center will explore various avenues to decarbonize the rail transport sector with the development of hybrid, battery or hydrogen trains, the company said.

“Alstom offers the most complete range of green solutions to support the environmental efforts of its customers. We will now increase our capacity with products that will be specifically adapted to the geographic, climatic and regulatory reality of the North American market,” explained Michael Keroullé, President of Alstom Americas.

The center, which should generate around 80 jobs “within a few years”, will be directed by Éric Rondeau, who notably advised Investissement Québec and the Ministry of Economy and Innovation for the deployment of the battery sector.

Sign of the interest in finding solutions to reduce emissions in the railway industry, barely 1% of the network is electrified in Canada and the United States, so that more than 27,000 diesel locomotives run on the railroads of the two countries every day.

“We must accelerate the greening of this mode of transport, in particular by offering public decision-makers and our customers proven electric propulsion technologies. It will be the role of this innovation center to develop these new innovative platforms or adapt them to meet the challenges here,” argued Mr. Rondeau.

Recall that Alstom has acquired the rail division of Bombardier for US$6.2 billion. The transaction had officially closed in January 2021, once all regulatory approvals had been obtained.

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