Alstom Secures €270M Order for 25 Melbourne Trains

MELBOURNE, Australia – Alstom secured a €270 million contract in 2026 from the Victorian state government for 25 additional X’trapolis 2.0 electric multiple units, raising the total order book to 50 six-car trains. The order was placed through an option attached to the original 2021 supply agreement and will be executed at Alstom’s Victorian production sites, including Ballarat. The first train from the initial batch entered commercial service in May 2026.

What Does This Contract Cover?

The option order covers 25 six-car Adessia-platform electric commuter trains and locks the full 50-train programme to a minimum 60 per cent Australian-sourced content by value.

Each X’trapolis 2.0 carries up to 1,225 passengers and includes a continuous gangway between railcars, wider doors, 20 wheelchair spaces, cycle and pushchair areas, semi-automatic ramps, tactile paving and hearing-assistance systems. The expanded order is intended to replace older Melbourne commuter trains that have been in service since the early 1980s. Production at Alstom’s Ballarat facility is already underway on the new batch, supplementing works elsewhere in the state.

Key Contract Data

How Does This Compare to Similar Contracts?

Queensland’s New Generation Rollingstock programme, signed in 2016, remains the Australian benchmark at A$4.4 billion for 75 six-car electric trains, but that figure bundled long-term maintenance and depot infrastructure rather than train supply alone. (Source: Queensland Government, 2016)

The €270 million option price is roughly half the A$986 million paid for the first 25 identical trains under the 2021 contract, a gap Alstom has not explained and which may reflect narrower scope, indexation mechanics, or one-off engineering costs already recovered in the base order. (Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, 2021)

The order also sits within a divergent state investment picture: New South Wales is committing A$55.6 billion to metro expansion, while Victoria has shifted capital focus toward operations following the Metro Tunnel opening in 2025. (Source: Howden Group, 2025)

Editor’s Analysis

By exercising the full option book, Victoria has removed the X’trapolis 2.0 requirement from future competitive tender and converted its 60 per cent local-content rule into a binding industrial programme centred on Ballarat.

That strategy protects domestic design and build capacity while other states chase brand-new corridors, but it also leaves Melbourne’s operator with a single-platform dependency through the early 2030s.

The contract signals that Australian states are now using rolling-stock procurement as an industrial-policy tool, not purely a passenger-capacity purchase, a trend that will continue as federal budget rounds tie rail funding to local manufacturing thresholds. (Source: Rail Express, 2026)

FAQ

Q: How many X’trapolis 2.0 trains will Victoria have on order after this contract?
A: Victoria will have 50 six-car X’trapolis 2.0 trainsets on order, comprising the initial 25 ordered in 2021 and the 25 exercised under option in 2026. That equals 300 railcars in total.

Q: When did the first X’trapolis 2.0 enter passenger service, and what is its capacity?
A: The first train entered commercial service in May 2026, with the rest of the initial batch being phased in after testing and acceptance. Each six-car unit can carry up to 1,225 passengers and includes 20 wheelchair spaces.

Q: What do the local-content requirements mean for jobs and suppliers?
A: At least 60 per cent of the trains’ value must be sourced from Australian suppliers, supporting rolling-stock jobs in the Melbourne metropolitan area and regional Victoria. Production at Alstom’s Ballarat factory is already underway for the new batch, though a jobs-per-train breakdown was not officially disclosed.