An example of a Bombardier electric train.
Bombardier Inc. and its consortium partners have won a $4.1-billion (U.S.) contract for a suburban passenger rail network in Queensland in Australia.
Bombardier's share of the contract is valued at about $2.7-billion.
The Montreal-based company will supply 75 electrical six-car trains, a new depot and provide maintenance for 30 years.
The other members of the consortium include infrastructure investor and asset manager John Laing, Japanese trading firm ITOCHU Corp. and Uberior, a division of Lloyds Banking Group PLC.
Design and construction of the depot for the New Generation Rollingstock Project in South East Queensland is to be subcontracted to British engineering firm Laing O'Rourke, which is also a partner in the consortium building the CHUM superhospital in Montreal.
The southern region of Queensland – whose largest city is Brisbane – is looking to upgrade its passenger rail network to meet a growth in demand.
The deal is a positive offset to Bombardier's announcement Thursday of another delay in its high-cost, risky C Series jet program.
"In our view, this order reflects Bombardier's strong product offering in Transportation," Desjardins Securities analyst Benoît Poirier said in a research note Friday.
"For the future, we expect BT to benefit from several upcoming opportunities around the world," he said, including subway projects in London and Crossrail, options for regional and commuter trains for French railway SNCF and new commuter trains and double-deckers in Germany.
Other top projects that present opportunites are monorails and locomotives in India, mass transit in Bangkok and high-speed and light rail trains China, as well as transit projects in Brazil and subway proposals in Gulf Co-operation Council countries, Mr. Poirier said.
Berlin-based Bombardier Transportation has been present in Australia for several years.
In 2011, it won a $258-million contract as part of a larger $1-billion agreement to build a 13-kilometre light-rail transit system in Queensland in a public-private partnership.
More recently, in North America, Bombardier Transportation clinched a $639-million order earlier this month for 365 rail cars from San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
Bombardier is the world's largest manufacturer of rail equipment and systems and one of the biggest aerospace manufacturers.
Bertrand Marotte