The Dutch national rail authority on Friday concluded an 800 million euro (US$883 million) deal with French transport giant Alstom SA to buy 79 new high-speed trains to go into service by 2021.
“Dutch Rail and Alstom have concluded a contract for delivery of 79 high speed intercity trains capable of a speed of 200kph,” Dutch Rail said in a statement.
“The value of the contract is worth more than 800 million euros,” the statement said, adding that the new trains would put 25,000 new seats on the country’s extensive rail network.
The new trains are based on Alstom’s “Coradia design,” of which 2,400 trains have already been sold to customers in other countries.
Service is scheduled to start on the line between Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the southern city of Breda in 2021.
“Alstom is the best fit for Dutch spending requirements,” the Dutch rail operator said.
The new trains are to be fitted with the latest technology, including Wi-Fi, television screens beaming travel information, power and USB connections and intelligent LED lighting.
Friday’s announcement came after German train builder Siemens lost a court appeal against the tender in which Dutch Rail named Alstom as the preferred bidder, Dutch Rail said.
It also came after the Dutch government last year was criticized for not putting passengers first amid a debacle over a short-lived high-speed train deal with Italian train builder AnsaldoBreda.
At least 19 Fyra trains, supplied by AnsaldoBreda at a cost of about 20 million euros each, were meant to rival the high-speed link between the two capitals already in use, but the Fyra trains were reportedly “completely unreliable,” with bad software and train parts falling off.
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