Alstom set to build railcars in Perth on big new order

Railcar manufacturer Alstom will build a new railcar manufacturing facility at Bellevue in Perth following the award of a major new order from rail operator Metronet.

Western Australian Premier Mark McGown made good his pledge to bring railcar manufacturing to WA with the naming of Alstom as preferred bidder to make 246 new C-series railcars and six cars to replace the existing Australind regional service.

McGowan said: “It means hundreds of quality, local jobs, more training and apprenticeship opportunities for our kids and WA made trains, on our new WA built Metronet lines.

“These are WA trains, so they should be WA jobs.”

To fulfill a requirement for at least 50 per cent local content, Alstom will establish a base at the 12,000 square metre plant near Midland, where railcar maintenance will also be carried out for the next 30 years.

Construction on the first stage of the Bellevue plant is expected to start next year and be completed in 2021, with further stages completed before 2023.

Since the Midland Railway Workshops were closed in 1994, new trains added to the network were predominately built in Queensland, with only two per cent of the work completed in WA.

McGowan said: “When the then Liberal Government closed the Midland Railway Workshops in 1994, we lost all the jobs and economic activity that went with it.

“Currently the work carried out locally is limited to window tinting and passenger seating, just two per cent of the work – WA can do so much more than that.”

The new contract is WA’s biggest ever railcar purchase.

As reported in @AuManufacturing news, Perth is undergoing a major rail expansion, including a new line to the airport.

Picture: Metronet

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