Alstom to pay EUR 20 mln in fines for late subway train delivery in Romania
There is no clarity on the delivery of the 13 Metropolis BM4 subway trains produced by Alstom in Brasil, initially scheduled to begin in June 2023, but the fines payable by the supplier certainly reached EUR 20 million – Romanian minister…
iulian ernst · Journalist
· Updated · 4 min read
There is no clarity on the delivery of the 13 Metropolis BM4 subway trains produced by Alstom in Brasil, initially scheduled to begin in June 2023, but the fines payable by the supplier certainly reached EUR 20 million – Romanian minister of transport Sorin Grindeanu said on January 30, quoted by Hotnews.ro. The contract has a total value of just over EUR 100 million.
With a larger EUR 488 million contract for 37 Coradia Stream regional trains and 15 years of associated maintenance services also subject to delays plus frequent delays on its maintenance contract for the whole fleet of Bucharest subway operator Metrorex (a EUR 560 million-820 million contract for 15 years), the French group has recently sealed another major contract in Romania: EUR 154 million for 16 Traxx 3 MS electric locomotives and 20 years of associated maintenance services.
In early December, Mihai Barbu, the president of Metrorex – the beneficiary of the 3 Metropolis BM4 subway trains, announced that Alstom handed the company a delivery calendar with the first train scheduled for delivery in March 2024. The calendar doesn't provide any predictability, however, as implied by minister Grindeanu in its January 30 interview.
"The justification [provided by Alstom] is that due to the war in Ukraine, certain global supply chains were affected, and it was necessary to find new suppliers for those materials – which takes time. I understand, but I think that when you sign a contract, you consider various scenarios. If not, you pay. In our case, these penalties keep accumulating," Grindeanu said.
In December, Metrorex's president mentioned issues faced by Alstom in bringing the subway trains from Brasil, as well as minor construction issues spotted during the production stage.
"A Metrorex delegation visited the production site and spotted some irregularities. There were no major irregularities. We don't know if they fixed them or not. They also have problems with transport," Mihai Barbu told Mainnews.ro.
In October, Alstom regional director Gabriel Stanciu mentioned the option of bringing the trains by air. He admitted the technical issues but blamed it on the unannounced S-shape route of the M5 subway line that the trains are supposed to serve.
