Bombardier Transportation to create test track and design centre in Quebec

Listen to this article

Bombardier Transportation has announced that it is creating a Product Design and Development Centre for North America in Saint-Bruno, Quebec, Canada.

The world leader in rail technology will also build a new state-of-the-art test track at its manufacturing plant in La Pocatière, Quebec. These projects represent a total investment of $17 million CDN ($17 million US, 12 million euro) over the next 18 months.

“Facing the challenge of an increasingly competitive market, we are proud to reinforce our presence in Quebec by making major investments to enhance our competitive edge and maintain our leadership,” explained Raymond Bachant, President, Bombardier Transportation, North America.

“The Design Centre is a unifying project that will encourage greater involvement by our customers, suppliers and partners in the research and development of pioneering technologies that could be included in our manufacturing processes,” he added.

The new centre will be used for designing and prototyping passenger rail vehicles.

Following this product development stage, the vehicles will be manufactured at Bombardier’s various manufacturing facilities around North America.

In creating the new centre, Bombardier Transportation will consolidate at one location its product development expertise for future projects carried out across North America.

Also, in locating its new centre in the Greater Montréal area, Bombardier Transportation will be well positioned to conclude research and development partnerships with recognised institutions in the region.

Construction work on the centre will begin at the end of the summer, with the opening slated for Spring 2012.

Bombardier Transportation will also benefit from a newly built rolling stock test track at its La Pocatière site. Among other things, the new track will allow engineers to perform qualification tests on the new metro cars Bombardier is building for the Société de transport de Montréal.

Bombardier Transportation will also make the La Pocatière test track multifunctional, so that tests can be carried out on all electrical multiple units powered by a third rail, including rolling stock on rubber tires. The one-kilometer track will be entirely under cover.

Dynamic brake testing and maximum speed testing are just some of the advanced processes that will be carried out there. A static testing site will also be built alongside the new test track.

To date, the engineering and design work for the new test track has been completed. Construction work on the track is set to begin at the end of the summer.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Rail News

ORR review leads to 50% reduction in maximum fees for ticket refunds

New rules will mean that from 2 April the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge...

More like this...