MONTREAL – A consortium including Alstom and Bombardier has won a commuter rail contract for the Paris region that could eventually be worth about C$5.2 billion, the companies and French railway operators said.

Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) and France’s Alstom were the sole bidders for the largest rolling stock tender ever launched by French railway company SNCF to provide 255 two-tier trains after Germany’s Siemens withdrew and Spanish rival CAF was eliminated in October.

The initial firm order for 71 trains is valued at C$1.6 billion or $480 million for Bombardier. The STIF transit authority on Paris’ Ile-de-France will pay for this contract.

Bombardier will earn 30 per cent of the proceeds from orders under the framework agreement, with Alstom receiving 70 per cent.

The trains will be delivered and enter circulation starting in 2021.

About 2,000 people will work on the contract at Alstom and Bombardier, include 330 assembly workers and engineers at Bombardier’s Crespin facility in France. Eight Alstom sites in France will be used.

Bombardier spokesman Marc-Andre Lefebvre said the contract which follows several other wins in the last year mean sustained production at its French plant for years to come.

“It’s good news for sustained employment and sustained production for Crespin but overall for Bombardier’s presence in France,” he said.