Paris (AFP)

Alstom chose to go to the clash with its main customers Thursday by withdrawing the offer from Bombardier Transport, however retained by the RATP and the SNCF to supply the new trains of the line B of the RER, explaining that the contract does not is not viable.

Bombardier Transport and the Spanish CAF had been selected, faced with the (more expensive) offer from the French railway manufacturer, to supply 146 RER trains, for 2.56 billion euros, the delivery of the first trains being scheduled for the end of 2025 .

But Alstom has multiplied its remedies, managing to delay the signing of the contract until its takeover of Bombardier Transport, effective since January 29.

The French group explains that it has carried out "several audits, internal and external" since it recovered the keys to Bombardier.

"At this stage, Alstom has already identified several disqualifying non-conformities which should have led RATP (responsible for the call for tenders, Editor's note) to reject Bombardier-CAF's offer," he indicates.

"The technical and financial conditions of the Bombardier-CAF consortium's offer do not correspond to market prices and do not allow this contract to be executed without significant risks for the financier, the operator, the travelers and for our company", severely judges the railway manufacturer.

The French group, whose mediation proposals were rejected, therefore said "[had] no other choice" than to announce the withdrawal of the offer from Bombardier Transport.

If he has "always honored his contracts", he indicates that he "never signed or started" a contract that (he) knows, from the moment of signing, unbalanced (technically, industrially or financially) ".

- "Too good to be true" -

Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge spoke on Wednesday of the prospect of losing "a lot of money" on this contract, deemed ill-tied.

"This offer is too good to be true," he explained Thursday evening in an interview with Le Figaro.

"It shows an aggressiveness on costs which is not reasonable. The technical choices do not include any margin of error, those of the equipment are carried out as accurately as possible and the gauge of the trains is not up to standards", he said. -he accuses.

"The train development schedule is 50% lower and the price 20% lower than those of the new generation RER E on which Bombardier is losing money," continued the new owner of Bombardier Transportation.

"If we accepted these conditions, it is certain that RATP, which is a very demanding customer, would ask us to redo everything and penalize us in the event of delay," he added.

"There remains the Alstom offer which is still on the table", noted the manager.

"We can discuss this offer or that of Bombardier Transport-CAF ...", he added.

Mr. Poupart-Lafarge had indicated yesterday that in the latter case it would also be necessary to discuss financial conditions, in other words to revise the price upwards.

"If the RATP does not want to discuss and the RER B is late, it will be its responsibility and that of the Ile-de-France region, which will have to launch a new call for tenders", asserted Henri Poupart- Lafarge.

- Obstruction strategy "-

The RATP, SNCF and Ile-de-France Mobilités - which finances the trains, called "MI20" - did not react immediately.

These three very large Alstom customers consider that the manufacturer is bound to honor the contract, signature or not, once it has made a firm offer and has been selected.

"We must not forget that in public procurement, when you have made an offer, that it is firm and that it is accepted, we cannot negotiate," RATP CEO Catherine Guillouard stressed on Tuesday.

The president of Ile-de-France Mobilités (and of the Ile-de-France region) Valérie Pécresse again denounced Thursday morning "the absolutely scandalous strategy of obstruction of Alstom", asking him to "keep his word".

"By doing so, Alstom is going against the interests of one of its largest customers worldwide", with 19 billion euros in orders placed with the group and Bombardier, she regretted.

Henri Poupart-Lafarge says he is aware of the "risk in terms of image for Alstom", and assumes the prospect of legal action.

"If we are attacked, we will explain in detail why the offer we are withdrawing is neither viable nor executable," he told Le Figaro.

© 2021 AFP