Explaining the deal, Alstom said: "Taking into account a possible cancellation of 10 trains, Alstom booked an order corresponding to 30 trainsets in the last quarter of the 2011-12 fiscal year, for a value of around Euros 900m." The order is part of a framework contract awarded by SNCF to Alstom in June 2007, and the 40 new trains are in addition to 55 Euroduplex trains currently under construction.
The decision to drop proceedings against Eurostar in the London High Court brings to an end litigation which Alstom began in October 2010. Alstom claimed that Channel Tunnel safety rules had been overlooked when Eurostar went out to tender for distributed-traction single-deck high-speed trains. This delayed the award of the contract for 10 trains to Siemens. However, the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission has since rescinded the rule that only high-speed trains with power cars can operate through the Channel Tunnel, and says that distributed-traction trains are allowed provided they have adequate fire-suppression equipment.
