Bombardier Transportation

Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. The division is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.

Bombardier Transportation produces a wide range of products including passenger rail vehicles, locomotives, bogies, propulsion, and controls, in addition to offering a number of services.

Lutz Bertling is the current President of Bombardier Transportation. In January 2011, the company had 34,900 employees, 25,400 of them in Europe, and 59 manufacturing locations around the world.

History
Bombardier Transportation's first order for mass transit rolling stock was in 1974 for the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) (Montreal transport authority) to build metro trains for the Montreal Metro.

The original core of the Transportation group was formed with the purchase of Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) in 1975. With that purchase Bombardier acquired MLW's LRC (Light, Rapid, Comfortable) tilting train design which it produced in the 1980s. The group also purchased UTDC which in turn had acquired Hawker Siddeley Canada. MLW was later sold to General Electric in 1988. GE ended railcar operations in Canada in 1993. Bombardier Transportation continues to operate the railcar operations in Thunder Bay. In 1987, Bombardier bought the assets of US railcar manufacturers Budd and Pullman-Standard.

In the late 1980s, Bombardier Transportation gained a manufacturing presence in Europe with the acquisition of a 45% share in BN Constructions Ferroviaires et Métalliques (with its principal site in Bruges, Belgium) in 1986, and the acquisition of ANF-Industries (with its principal site in Crespin, France, near the Belgian border) in 1989. In 1990, Procor Engineering Ltd. of Horbury near Wakefield, UK; a manufacturer of bodyshells, was acquired, and renamed Bombardier Prorail.

In 1991, the grouping Bombardier Eurorail was formed consisting of the company's European subsidiaries; BN, ANF-Industrie, Prorail, and BWS. In 1992, the company acquired Mexico's largest railway rolling-stock manufacturer, Concarril, from the Mexican government.

In 1995, Waggonfabrik Talbot KG in Aachen, Germany, and in 1998, Deutsche Waggonbau AG (DWA), and Ateliers de constructions mécaniques de Vevey in Vevey, Switzerland, were acquired. DWA encompassed the major portion of the railway equipment industry of the former East Germany ("Kombinat Schienenfahrzeugbau") with its principal sites in Bautzen and Görlitz.

In 2001, Bombardier Transportation acquired ADtranz from DaimlerChrysler, and became by many measurements the Western world's largest rail-equipment manufacturer. The takeover was approved by the EU competition commission subject to a number of minor clauses including the divestment of Bombardier's stake in Adtranz/Stadler joint venture Stadler Pankow GmbH (sold to Stadler Rail), and an agreement to retain Kiepe as a supplier, and ELIN as a partner for a number of years after the acquisition. The addition of ADtranz made Bombardier a manufacturer of locomotives along with its existing product lines of passenger carriages, multiple-unit trains, and trams. With the acquisition of ADtranz, Bombardier gained competence in the electrical propulsion components business.

After the Adtranz acquisition in 2001, Bombardier Transportation published its core manufacturing strategy for Europe: three sites for bogie manufacture were to be at Siegen in Germany, Derby (UK), and at the ex-ANF plant in Crespin (France). Vehicle body manufacturer was to be done at Bautzen and Görlitz (Germany), at the former Kalmar Verkstad plant (Sweden), at the Bombardier's Derby carriage plant, and the former BN Constructions Ferroviaries et Métalliques in Bruges. For final assembly, the company chose the former Waggonfabrik Talbot plant in Aachen and the former LEW Hennigsdorf (nr. Berlin) in Germany, the former Sorefame plant in Amadora, Portugal, and its plants in Derby (UK), Crespin (France), Bruge (Belgium), Kalmar (Sweden), and Pratteln, Switzerland. Additionally a number of plants would have specialised manufacturing roles, including Česká Lípa (Czech Republic) and the Pafawag facility in Poland which would supply parts and welded structures, and sites in Vienna (Austria) and Bautzen (Germany) which would specialise in LRV (light rail vehicle) manufacture whilst double deck trains for the German market would be manufactured in Görlitz. Other sites had their work mandate reduced in scope, or were closed.

In 2004, due to overcapacity in the European passenger train industry, Bombardier announced a restructuring program resulting in the closure of several plants; in the UK, the bogie production site at Pride Park, Derby, as well as Bombardier Prorail (Wakefield), and a maintenance facility in Doncaster were closed; in mainland Europe, the plants at Pratteln, Kalmar, and Amadora were to be closed, as well as plants in Ammendorf and Vetschau in eastern Germany which had been labelled for closure in 2001.

In late 2012, Bombardier announced the closure of the Bombardier Talbot plant in Aachen, and a reduction in workforce in the whole transportation division of 1,200 people.

In early 2013, Deutsche Bahn announced that it was suing Bombardier for 350 million euros due to some serious defects in trains used on the suburban S-Bahn rail network in Berlin. This is in addition of the 160 million euros it was asking for from Bombardier because of problems with more than 200 regional trains operation in southern Germany and problems with the brakes in regional and local trains in Munich.

Products and services
In addition to manufacturing a wide variety of passenger rail vehicles and locomotives, Bombardier Transportation provides services for commuter train providers.
 * Maintenance: Bombardier Transportation has several maintenance contracts for the servicing of commuter trains. This includes fueling, storage, train washing, and upkeep. One of its key clients is GO Transit, as well as OCTranspo (Ottawa O-Train).
 * Train Operation: Bombardier Transportation operates a number of commuter and light rail systems under contract with various transit agencies. It has been the operator for 6 of the 7 GO Transit commuter train lines in Ontario since 2008. The company also operates a number of airport people mover systems, typically systems it built, such as the AirTrain JFK and AirTrain Newark in New York City under contract with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Facilities
Bombardier Transportation has production facilities or product development in:
 * Asia:
 * China : Joint ventures with native companies Bombardier Sifang-Power (Qingdao) transportation Ltd., Changchun Bombardier railway vehicles Co. Ltd., Bombardier CPC propulsion systems Ltd.
 * Thailand : BTS Skytrain, Bangkok
 * Europe:
 * Austria : sites include Bombardier Wien Schienenfahrzeuge (former Lohner-Werke)
 * Belgium : Passenger vehicles, at former BN Constructions Ferroviaries et Métalliques plant
 * Czech Republic : freight rolling stock
 * Denmark : Continues production of IC3 "flexiliner" passenger multiple units.
 * France : Public transport - mass transit, trolleybuses, metros, at former ANF Industrie plant
 * Germany : Major facilities for production of mass transit, regional, and high speed passenger trains. Control systems. Diesel and electric locomotive manufacture. Sites include former LEW Hennigsdorf nr. Berlin and at Frankfurt.
 * United Kingdom: Derby Litchurch Lane Works - Manufacturing TurboStar, ElectroStar passenger multiple units and London Underground Stock.
 * North America:
 * Canada: engineering facilities in Saint-Bruno, Quebec and Kingston, Ontario; manufacturing facilities in Thunder Bay, Ontario and La Pocatière
 * Mexico: Sahagun (former Concarril factory) - engineering and production site.
 * United States: manufacturing Plattsburgh, New York and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 * Oceania:
 * Australia: Bombardier Transportation Australia Ltd - Valley Country.