Bombardier secures $944 million in European rail contracts

BERLIN—Bombardier Transportation has secured an order for 130 of its Electrostar rail for the Southern Rail Company in Britain in a contract worth $296 million.

The new trains will be manufactured in the U.K. with production starting in the latter half of 2012.

Bombardier says it currently has almost 2,000 Electrostar units produced and in service across Britain.

Last week, the Montreal-based transportation giant also announced an order for 90 electric multiple unit trains for use in Frankfurt, Germany in a contract worth US$648 million.

First units under the contract awarded the company’s Berlin-based rail equipment arm are expected to enter service in December 2014.

The new four-car units are to be used on a network covering more than 7.2 million train kilometres a year. To date 87 trains of the same 430 series have already been ordered for the Stuttgart region by DB Regio AG.

DB Regio won a European-wide tender in November 2011, securing the transportation contract for the Rhein-Main rapid transit network.

The new units, which can reach speeds of up to 140 kilometres an hour, are to be used in the suburban network Kleyer.