In the next few hours it will be known whether CAF will close a $3.5 billion contract with the Belgian rail network
The Belgian Council of State annulled the decision of the Belgian railway network (SNCB) to award CAF the manufacture of trains in the coming years on the grounds of lack of transparency in the award process.
The Belgian rail network launched a European tender for a contract to replace hundreds of self-propelled trains and received three offers from CAF, Siemens and Alstomena. After deciding to select the latter as a 'preferred bidder', the French company based in Belgium, Alstom, filed an appeal with the Court, which is expected to arrive today.
Bernard Belvaux, CEO of Alstom's subsidiary at Benelux, called the decision "surprising," considering that the company employs 3,000 people in Belgium and that its offer was €100 million cheaper than that of CAF, local media reported.
The Minister for Mobility of the Federal Government, Jean-Luc Cruck, said at the beginning of March that the European rules applicable to public contracts had been respected in making this decision and that the decision to keep the CAF as a preferential bidder had been taken unanimously by the SNCB Works Council, a committee composed of representatives of all the political groups in the country.
The biggest contract in CAF history.
CAF could obtain one of the largest contracts in its history, amounting to EUR 3.5 billion, by selecting SNCB as the "preferred bidder" (preferred option) for the manufacture and supply of the new fleet by the Belgian railway service.
CAF reported in a statement in March that, according to the possible agreement, the maximum number of units would be 170,000. The initial base commitment is €1,695 million (the number of units of 50,000) if the agreement were finally concluded.
However, the full performance of the contract could amount to EUR 3.5 billion, making it one of the largest in the company's history.
The board of directors of NMBS (Belgian National Railway Society) authorized the continuation of the procurement process with the company selected as "preferred bidder" with the aim of definitively concluding the agreement.
In addition, the Belgian Government justified the SNCB's choice of CAF for 600 trains, despite the fact that the French company Alstom has a cheaper offer and factories in Belgium itself. It has factories in the Belgian cities of Charleroi (south) and Bruges (north).
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