The SNCB indicates Thursday evening to analyze “the judgment of the French -speaking chamber of the Council of State and its consequences”. “At first glance, the judgment does not a priori require a new tender procedure. Nevertheless, since an appeal is still during the Dutch -speaking chamber of the Council of State against the same decision, the SNCB cannot yet decide definitively on the consequences of the appeals.” The Railway Society recalls, however, that “the in time control of new AM30 automotive auto is of great importance for the renewal of the fleet of the SNCB rolling stock and to respond to the growth in the number of travelers”.
An order launched at the end of 2022
The SNCB had launched a European call for tenders at the end of 2022 for a framework contract for the replacement of hundreds of self-propelled trains. The Railway Society has received three offers: from the Spanish company CAF, Siemens and Alstom.
At the end of February 2025, she chose CAF as a “preferential bid”, after based on a series of criteria, including technical quality.
A hard choice to collect. Bernard Belvaux, CEO of the Benelux subsidiary of Alstom, did not hesitate to qualify the decision as “shocking”. The French company employs 3,000 employees in Belgium, in Bruges and Charleroi. And its offer was 100 million euros cheaper than that of CAF, according to Mr. Belvaux. The company therefore turned to the Council of State.
A page will soon turn to the rail: 265 iconic cars will stop being used by the SNCB by 2025, here
But Alstom is not the only one to have trouble digesting the preference of the SNCB. Not only would it put local jobs in danger, but there are also indications that the company is active in occupied Palestinian territories, according to Groen and the PTB.
For his part, the Minister of Mobility, Jean-Luc Crucke, was content to recall at the beginning of March that the European rules applicable in public market had been respected and that the decision to retain CAF as a preferential tenderer had been taken unanimously from the company Council of the SNCB, that is by representatives of the N-VA, CD&V, VOORUIT, OPEN VLD, Mr, from the PS as well as Ecolo.
