French group Alstom, which acquired Bombardier Transport in 2021, will be the only one in the race to build the trains for Québec’s future light rail system due to the withdrawal of Siemens.
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The news was first reported by Radio-Canada. The vice president of the PR agency TACT, Yan Plante, confirmed to the journal in the early evening that Siemens was withdrawing.
“I can confirm that they have pulled out of the process and I can confirm that they wanted to offer hybrid technology, both cable and battery, to preserve heritage landscapes. »
Siemens’ decision – leaving the field open for Alstom – will come as little surprise to those closely following the case. Siemens had already publicly threatened to withdraw from the bidding process last June.
Remember that Caisse de dépôt et Placement du Québec has been Alstom’s main shareholder since 2021.
The mayor does not comment
Mayor Bruno Marchand, who was being questioned earlier in the day, announced that he would delay revealing the project’s updated cost, currently estimated at $3.965 billion, to 2023. He also said that he was not prepared to disclose the result of the tender for rail vehicles, which ended on September 29.
Earlier in the evening, the mayor’s press secretary declined to confirm the news, saying he was bound by the confidentiality of the ongoing bidding process.
“The opening of proposals is private, not public, under the Cities and Municipalities Act. Discussions continue but must remain confidential to comply with the process required by law. We will not comment further on this news until the law allows us,” the cabinet was told.
Lack of competition
The rumors confirmed today about the lack of competition have been circulating for some time. “It’s been several months since it’s expected in public spaces. Siemens had blown hot and cold. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise,” responded opposition leader Claude Villeneuve, carefully avoiding saying if this is bad news for taxpayers.
The lack of competition inevitably introduces ‘risk’, he agrees, but it’s not until the price of the job is known that we can really judge. “We’ll find out when the price is known. Will we end up with a significantly higher price? Incidentally, the rolling stock is not the largest part of the order,” Mr. Villeneuve put into perspective.
“The project would be much more vulnerable if there was only one bidder for the infrastructure part,” he added. In his opinion, at this point in time, we should not consider reopening the tender until the costs are known.
Remember that the City of Quebec lost a year by taking over the procurement process and splitting it in two to encourage competition.
“(Pierre) Fitzgibbon and (François) Legault, they never made a secret of the fact that the contract would go straight to Alstom if it was only up to them. Our higher governments have not helped to promote a competitive context,” notes Mr. Villeneuve.
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