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France’s government intervenes to save train-making site

France's government intervenes to save train-making site | iNFOnews.ca
FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016 file photo, Alstom employees stage a protest in front of its headquarters in St Ouen, north of Paris, asking not to close a plant in Belfort, eastern France, which employs 400 people. France's government is expected to present its plan to save a historic train-making site of manufacturer Alstom, in a bid to save jobs ahead of presidential elections. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

PARIS – France’s government is expected to present its plan to save a historic train-making site of manufacturer Alstom, in a bid to save jobs ahead of presidential elections.

Partially state-owned Alstom recently won a contract to build high-speed trains in the U.S. and builds trams and subway trains around the world. However, it has struggled at home.

The junior minister in charge of industry, Christophe Sirugue, is meeting Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge on Tuesday as well as union activists and local officials in Belfort in eastern France.

Alstom informed employees last month it would close the Belfort plant, which made France’s first high-speed TGV train.

Le Monde newspaper says the government is considering ordering 16 TGVs from the plant. Critics say the trains aren’t needed and the move is politically driven.

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