€50m refurbishment

Bombardier Transportation has been commissioned by the SNCB (the Belgian National Railways) to refurbish 130 type-M5 double-deck coaches and conduct the heavy maintenance of all the bogies and brakes.

This contract, valued at approximately €50m, is Bombardier’s first refurbishment contract in partnership with the SNCB. It covers an upgrade of technical and design-related items, such as new passenger seats and windows, air-conditioning of the driver’s post, new vestibules with automated doors, and a novel design of the luggage compartments.

The M5-vehicles, which are to be refurbished from October 2008 until the end of 2011, were originally built in Bombardier’s Bruges plant at the end of the 1980s. The refurbishment will be carried out at the SNCB shop in Cuesmes, Belgium and consists of three phases. First, Bombardier will test the viability of the concept by modernizing the first two vehicles on its own. Then, the next four vehicles will be modernized jointly by Bombardier and SNCB together, with the aim of transferring Bombardier’s knowledge, capability and technology to SNCB. Finally, for the remaining 124 vehicles, Bombardier will supply all the necessary parts to NMBS, packaged in “Just-In-Time” kits.

’The refurbishment of the M5 double-deck trains is an important step for the SNCB,’ said Belgian Railways CEO, Marc Descheemaecker. ‘By giving them a new and modern look, the quality of these trains will improve significantly and our customers will travel very comfortably trains.’