Alstom unveils the AGV, its latest very high speed train,
capable of reaching a cruising speed of 360 kph

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Patrick Kron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alstom
and Philippe Mellier, President of Alstom Transport, unveiled the
prototype of the AGV on Tuesday 5 February 2008 at Alstom
Transport’s plant in La Rochelle, France, in the presence
of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France and numerous
dignitaries.

During the unveiling ceremony, the futuristic and aerodynamic
design of the AGV and its technological innovations were
particularly highlighted. The AGV is the first train in the world
to feature an articulated architecture (with the bogies located
between the carriages), a solution which provides the highest
levels of safety, combined with a distributed drive system (the
train’s motors being located on the bogies, under the
train), an innovation which considerably increases the potential
number of seats onboard the train by eliminating the need for
locomotives. This novel architecture will give operators great
flexibility. They will be able to vary the length of their trains
(from 7 to 14 carriages, and from 250 and 650 seats) depending on
demand. It will also substantially lower maintenance costs.

The AGV is particularly environmentally friendly, with a 15%
lower energy consumption than its main competitors. It also
incorporates the latest ERTMS signalling standards so can run on
all European lines. Alstom Transport’s sites in France (at
La Rochelle, Ornans, Tarbes, Le Creusot, Villeurbanne,
Reichshoffen) and in Italy (at Bologna and Savigliano) will all
be involved in producing the AGV.

The AGV’s novel traction system has already been tested
under extreme conditions, since it was used in the train which
set the world rail speed record on 3 April 2007: 574.8 kph.

Patrick Kron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alstom,
said: “We have developed this train using our own funds, a
very unusual approach in the railway industry, because we
understood that the market for very high speed rail travel was
about to diversify. In order to maintain our leadership, we
needed to broaden and update our range of products. The AGV has
arrived on the market just at the time when very high speed rail
travel is undergoing a new expansion phase, not only in its
traditional markets, but also in many developing
countries”.

Over the past 25 years, Alstom has sold more than 650 TGV
trains, becoming the world leader in this high technology field.
Its trains have carried, in complete safety, nearly one and a
half billion passengers over 2 billion km - or 6,500 times the
distance from the Earth to the Moon. Alstom has just won two
major export orders from Argentina and Morocco for its TGV Duplex
trains.

Philippe Mellier, President of Alstom Transport, said of the
AGV that it was “both the outcome of Alstom’s
unparalleled experience in the field of very high speed trains,
backed by a successful track record of 25 years, and also the
result of the company’s capacity to innovate which has
enabled it to remain at the forefront of railway technology. The
trust which Italy’s new railway operator NTV has placed in
Alstom by becoming the first launch customer of the AGV will
enable us to demonstrate rapidly the performance, comfort,
convenience, environmental soundness and low cost of ownership of
our train.”

Italy’s new railway operator, NTV, has placed firm
orders for 25 trains (with options for 10 more), and has signed a
maintenance contract with Alstom. Production of the first trains
will begin in mid-2008, and they will be delivered from 2010
onwards. 

About Alstom Transport

A promoter of sustainable mobility, Alstom Transport develops and
markets the most complete range of systems, equipment and
services in the railway sector. Alstom Transport manages entire
transport systems, taking in rolling stock, signalling and
infrastructure, and offers “turnkey” solutions. In
the 2006/07 financial year, Alstom Transport’s sales lifted
the company to the number one position in the world transport
market.

Press contact   

Alstom : Philippe Kasse, Stéphane Farhi
(Corporate) - Tel +33 1 41 49 29 82 /33 08 

philippe.kasse@chq.alstom.com
- 
stephane.farhi@chq.alstom.com                   
                             


Laurent Gerbet (Transport) - Tel + 33  1 41 66 92 83 –

laurent.gerbet@transport.alstom.com 

Investor
Relations                 
                                                                                       
Alstom : Emmanuelle Châtelain - Tel + 33 1 41 49 37 38 -
investor.relations@chq.alstom.com 

Websites 
www.alstom.com,
www.transport.alstom.com