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The French National Railways (SNCF) recently ordered another 67 Autorail Grande Capacite (AGC) trains from Bombardier Transportation. The $416 million contract is an add-on to a December 2001 500-train order.

Bombardier will begin delivering trains in August 2009. To date, SNCF has ordered 679 of the high-capacity trains.

Meanwhile, Bombardier also obtained a $67 million contract from the Belgian National Railways (SNCB) to rehabilitate 130 M5 double-deck coaches the car builder originally manufactured in the late 1980s. The company also will provide heavy maintenance on the vehicles’ bogies and brakes.

The contract calls for refurbishing passenger seats and windows, replacing air conditioning in the drivers’ post, adding new vestibules with automated doors and redesigning luggage compartments. Bombardier will modernize two vehicles, then refurbish four jointly with SNCB. The car builder then will supply necessary parts for the railway to refurbish the remaining 124 vehicles.