Alstom wins 2 billion euro railcar deal in New York

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

By Anna Peverieri

(Reuters) -France’s Alstom has received a 2 billion euro ($2.4 billion) order from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to supply M-9A railcars for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad, the train maker said on Friday.

The contract, which was announced by MTA in June, will be booked in the second quarter of the 2025/26 fiscal year, Alstom said.

MTA last month said that pilot railcars from Alstom would be delivered in 2029 and enter passenger service on the Long Island Rail Road in 2030. All 316 railcars that were part of this order were expected to be delivered by 2032, it added.

Those include 160 cars for the Long Island Rail Road and 156 for the Metro-North Railroad. 

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said in June that the deal was an early step in the agency’s plan to purchase nearly 2,000 railcars as part of its $10.9 billion capital plan.

Redburn Atlantic analyst James Moore said the contract supports expectations for a strong second quarter for Alstom after an expected slower start to its financial year.

Moore estimated that Alstom booked orders of around 4.1 billion euros in the first quarter that ended in June, slightly below analysts’ consensus, but said it was on track to exceed expectations with orders of more than 6 billion euros in the second quarter.

Analysts polled by Visible Alpha have forecast second-quarter orders at 5.1 billion euros, he said.

Alstom’s shares were broadly unchanged compared to last close as of 0832 GMT, after rising 1.4% in early trading in Paris.

($1 = 0.8486 euros)

(Reporting by Anna Peverieri in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)