Alstom – The company

Summary: Originally named Als-Thom—a contraction of “Alsace” and “Thomson”—the company Alsthom was formed in September 1928 through the merger of part of the Société alsacienne de constructions mécaniques (SACM), based in Mulhouse and later in Belfort, a specialist in locomotive manufacturing, and the Compagnie française pour l’exploitation des procédés Thomson Houston (CFTH), a French-American company specializing in electric rail traction equipment and electromechanical construction. It became Alsthom Atlantique in 1976, then GEC-Alsthom in 1989, and finally Alstom in 1998. Between 2014 and 2018, the American company General Electric acquired Alstom’s “Energy” activities, namely Alstom Power and Alstom Grid. As part of this acquisition, General Electric’s railway signaling operations, “GE Signalling,” were transferred to Alstom. On January 29, 2021, Alstom completed the acquisition and integration of its Canadian competitor Bombardier Transportation. Globally, Alstom employs nearly 74,000 people.

➤ Other rolling stock suppliers in Europe: CAF, Greenbrier Europe, Hitachi Rail Europe, Pesa, Siemens, Škoda, Stadler, Talgo, Vossloh

Note: For educational purpose only. This page is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. It is not a substitute for the official page of the operating company, manufacturer or official institutions. It cannot be used for staff training, which is the responsibility of approved institutions and companies.

Filing the catalogue supplied by the company is always a difficult exercise. For Alstom, there are two reasons for this:

Firstly, the company covers all the rail markets, from trams to high-speed trains;
And secondly, because the French company acquired its competitor Bombardier in 2021, which meant continuing with the Canadian company’s current orders, hence the presence of some duplicate products, particularly in the regional train market.

In addition, there is a clear distinction between continental trains and those manufactured for the UK market alone, for infrastructure gauge reasons. Conversely, it is sometimes difficult to make a clear distinction between suburban and regional trains, as is often the case in Germany with certain very extensive S-Bahn lines.

It is also difficult to distinguish between regional and long-distance trains, as is the case in France, where some “TER” (Train Express Régional) trains can cover distances of 150 to 200 kilometres. The same applies in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland, small countries with a high rail density, where trains described as “Intercity” are in fact regional trains running on 100 to 200 kilometres, stopping every 15 to 30 kilometres.

The definition of “High Speed” is also open to various interpretations, as it has become a marketing issue to which Alstom responds as best it can. Some trains designed with a topspeed of 200km/h are labelled “high speed” in certain countries, which is not recognised by UIC.

At the end, it can draw up a catalogue, but the fact remains that, despite construction by specialised platforms (Coradia, Avelia), train deliveries reflect a very various wide range.

Conventionnal trains

Traction
Passenger/Freight

TRAXX Universal (ex-Bombardier TRAXX MS3)
160km/h
Sold to:
All over Europe

Suburban

Various products

Alessia
140-160km/h
Sold to:
RER D Paris, S-Bahn Cologne

Trainset up to 160km/h

Aventra (UK market only)
140-160km/h, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 cars
Sold to:
Elizabeth line, London Overground, Greater Anglia, South Western Railway, c2c, West Midlands Trains

Regional
Part of the Coradia platform produced at the Reichshoffen plant in Alsace was transferred to CAF when Bombardier was acquired by Alstom in 2022, following a requirement by the competition authorities. This is why the SNCF’s Regiolis Coradia does not appear in this list.

Trainset up to 160km/h

Omneo (ex-Bombardier)
140-160km/h, 6,7,8 or 10 cars
Sold to:
Zou Transdev