BELGIAN National Railways (SNCB) is proceeding with negotiations to finalise a 12-year framework contract to supply up to 600 EMUs for €3.4bn, after the Council of State rejected appeals against the selection of CAF as preferred bidder.

Two separate appeals were lodged by the unsuccessful bidders for the contract, Siemens Mobility and Alstom. They were rejected by the Council of State on September 19 and 24 respectively.

The best and final offer from CAF was selected by SNCB ahead of Siemens and Alstom on February 28, following tender evaluation based on four criteria: technical content (36%), price (50%), delivery schedule (7%) and energy consumption (7%). Although the final scores were close, Siemens and Alstom filed complaints with the Council of State, claiming the assessment of technical content lacked transparency and violated procurement law.

The Council of State has ruled that SNCB did not alter its evaluation methodology after bids were submitted, and had complied with the principles of public-sector procurement. The council also rejected an appeal made by four Belgian non-governmental organisations (NGO) citing CAF’s ongoing involvement in the Jerusalem light rail project, ruling that the outcome of the tender to supply rolling stock for operation in Belgium “does not affect the rights of the Palestinian people in any way."

Containing an initial order for 180 EMUs worth €1.7bn, the framework contract is central to SNCB meeting its commitment to renew 50% of its fleet during the term of its current PSO contract with the federal government, running from 2023 to 2032. Failure to introduce new rolling stock is expected to have a negative financial impact of between €70m and €100m.

As well as accommodating expected growth in passenger traffic, the new trains will improve passenger comfort, replacing ageing EMUs liable to failure with more flexible and accessible trains that consume less energy.

Designated as class AM30 by SNCB, the new EMUs will be deployed on inter-city, regional and suburban services, replacing four-car AM75, three-car AM80, and three-car AM96 EMUs. CAF has offered its Civity Duo design, combining single-deck end cars and double-deck intermediate cars. SNCB will also order a BEMU variant to replace AR41 DMUs.

In the tender, SNCB said that the new trains should be available from 2029-30, given the withdrawal schedule for the fleets to replaced. The framework contract must therefore be awarded this financial year (2025-26) for the initial order to be placed next spring.

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