The center, which will be located at Alstom’s Americas headquarters in St-Bruno-de-Montarville in Quebec, was a key commitment made by the group at the time of the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation, completed in January 2021.
The innovation center will be led by Éric Rondeau, who has a proven track record in the field of transport electrification and recently worked as senior strategic advisor to Investissement Québec International and the Quebec Ministry of Economy and Innovation to develop and deploy the Quebec battery industry.
"Unlike Europe or Asia, the rail network in Canada and the US is barely 1% electrified. It is used by 27,000 diesel locomotives every day, which is a significant proportion of the carbon footprint of our companies. Efforts to make this mode of transport greener must be stepped up, by providing public decision-makers and our customers with proven electric propulsion technologies. It will be this innovation center’s role to develop these new innovative platforms or to adapt them to meet the challenges of the region,” indicated Éric Rondeau.
The center’s installation in St-Bruno will ensure unprecedented synergy through its proximity to the 500+ Alstom engineers currently working on the site, as well as to dedicated prototyping facilities. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art virtual and augmented reality equipment, enabling it to optimize its activities to develop future green propulsion platforms.
The center’s engineers will work closely with key players in Quebec's research and innovation sector, as well as with industrial partners in the Quebec battery and hydrogen industry. In particular, the center will work with the Hydrogen Research Institute (HRI) of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) on the preconditions for the success of the refueling and operating ecosystem for hydrogen propulsion.
It will also participate in McGill University's Sustainable Growth Initiative, a think tank aimed at providing companies and governments with innovative solutions to accelerate the green transition in transport.
Michael Keroullé, president of Alstom Americas, said: “Alstom offers the most comprehensive range of green solutions to support its customers’ environmental efforts. We will now expand our capacity with products specifically tailored to the geographic, climatic, and regulatory realities of the North American market. Quebec’s assets and business environment, combined with our design and engineering expertise here in St-Bruno, provide us with a unique environment to innovate and grow.”