Renta 4 | Alstom has decided to cancel its bid for the contract for the supply of 146 trains worth 2.560 billion euros that the CAF-Bombardier consortium won three weeks ago, considering it to be unfeasible. From a financial point of view, this setback leaves in the air a contract worth, according to the latest information from the consortium, around €1 Bn. Moreover, from a strategic point of view, CAF could lose the opportunity to consolidate its position as the second largest operator in the French market.

CAF could have withdrawn from buying the factory that Alstom has in Reichschoffen (Alsace, France). The European authorities are forcing the French company to sell in exchange for giving the green light to the 5.3 billion euros acquisition of Bombardier's railway business. This purchase will be executed on January 29. On January 8, Alstom seemingly informed the trade unions of this plant that CAF was not interested in the situation of the operation.

Spain's CAF is amongst the investors interested in buying the only factory Alstom has put up for sale in France to meet the conditions imposed by the European Commission on the purchase of the Canadian firm Bombardier. In fact, CAF is the favourite to take over Alstom's assets. The French unions have positioned themselves in favour of CAF due to the size of the company and their commitment to retaining the entire workforce. That said, CAF will have to compete with Skoda for the factory. 

Julián García Valverde founded Imathia and Consultrans, engineering, consultancy and construction companies. They form part of the consortium of 12 Spanish firms which won the contract for Mecca-Medina AVE high-speed train line. On December 31, it crossed for the first time the 453 kms that separate both cities at 300 km/hour in some parts.

Talgo has been the big railway company protected by all Spain's governments. So it's no suprise that Talgo's Avril - with its own traction power -  has just beaten Alstom and Siemens and won the contract to build 15-high speed AVE trains for state-owned Renfe. The German company hardly even flinched, but the French had their doubts about how the calculations were made and have asked for clarification.

WASHINGTON | By Pablo Pardo | Europe’s obsession with national champions is bad for shareholders, taxpayers, and workers. Does anybody know Dailymotion? It is a video hosting service like Google’s YouTube. The two differences between both sites are: 1) Dailymotion accepts porn; 2) YouTube is, according to Alexa, the third most visited website in the world, whereas Dailymotion is number 94.