The penalties owed by French railway producer Alstom for the overdue deliveries in Romania reached RON 190 million (EUR 38 million), and there is no clarity on the calendar of deliveries, Romanian minister of transport Sorin Grindeanu said in an interview with Digi24, quoted by Economedia.ro.

Alstom owes RON 110 million penalties for 13 subway trains not yet delivered to Metrorex and another RON 80 million for the 37 trains not yet delivered to the railway company CFR, minister Grindeanu explained.

For the Metrorex contract signed at the end of 2020, the current penalty amounts to almost a quarter of the value of the contract (RON 500 million, EUR 100 million). For the contract of the 37 new trains, each day of delay calculated from October/November 2023 costs Alstom RON 0.8 million.

The first subway train is supposed to arrive in Bucharest by the end of the month and will be tested for 10,000 km.

The first train from Alstom for CFR is undergoing tests in Romania, and the estimated time of entry into circulation is autumn 2024.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: JP/Dreamstime.com)