Alstom has won a contract worth around 900 million euro to maintain the regional rolling stock VLocity and Classic fleets in Australia‘s Victoria state for the next ten years.

Alstom built the VLocity train fleet at its Dandenong manufacturing site in Melbourne, Australia, and will maintain the vehicles alongside the Classic fleet out of West Melbourne, South Dynon and Ballarat East sites. This will secure jobs for hundreds of workers in Victoria, which is Australia’s second-smallest state and is located in the south-east of the country.

98% of the contract’s labour will be based in Victoria servicing the VLocity and Classic fleet, and Alstom will source 69% of maintenance materials from local Victorian suppliers. Alstom has also committed to spending 6% with forty local social benefit suppliers over the life of the contract.

VLocity trains run on Victoria’s Geelong, Ballarat, Ararat, Maryborough, Bendigo, Echuca, Seymour, Shepparton, Traralgon and Bairnsdale lines. It is the newest and fastest train in the V/Line fleet, and travels at speeds of up to 160km/h.

Pascal Dupond, Alstom’s Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, said, “Our association with VLocity goes back to 2003. On the twentieth year of that association, I am humbled by the trust placed in us by the Victorian Government to continue the privilege of servicing VLocity trains for the next decade.

“We will establish a fleet control centre in South Dynon, based on Alstom’s UK Voyager Control Centre which will further improve reliability and availability of the fleet. Local suppliers across Victoria will also play an important part in supplying parts, overhauls, repairs, preventative maintenance and wheel turning; the impact to the rail supply chain in Victoria will be profound.”