Alstom has suspended testing of new trains for Norske tog, Norway’s rail operator, after laboratory tests identified deficiencies in a bogie component.
During these tests, the bogies of the new trains are subjected to fatigue resistance tests under controlled conditions. It is currently unclear whether the problem discovered affects more than one bogie. Until the situation is clarified, all testing of Norske tog’s new trains has been suspended.
“Delays and potential faults in critical train components are not acceptable. We have called Alstom’s senior management to a meeting in Oslo on March 2. We will monitor the situation very closely through frequent review meetings with Alstom. A team of engineers specializing in bogies and braking systems from Norske tog will go to Alstom to closely follow the situation,” said Øystein Risan, CEO of Norske tog.
The load capacity that the bogies must withstand is clearly specified in the contract that Norske tog has entered into with Alstom, which is responsible for meeting the requirements. The requirements have been set to cope with the climatic conditions in Norway and to correspond to the Norwegian railway infrastructure.
According to the CEO of Norske tog, “the project has already experienced significant delays. If the defect identified in the bogie leads to further delays, this will trigger additional penalties under the contract, as the situation is Alstom’s responsibility and risk.”
Delays in train delivery
In November 2025, Norske tog announced further delays to the Coradia Stream trains manufactured by Alstom, which were intended for local traffic in the Oslo region and were due to enter service in June 2026. The Coradia Nordic trains are already delayed, and now the manufacturer has announced a further delay of up to seven months. Norske tog is making every effort to ensure that the trains are delivered as quickly as possible.
Norske tog’s new trains were initially delayed due to difficulties encountered by Alstom with its subcontractors, as well as problems that arose in the production process. Subsequently, the Norwegian operator received a new notification of the delay, with the French company citing a 12-week delay in the testing program as the reason. Norske tog considered that this reason did not justify a seven-month postponement, as announced by Alstom.
In January 2022, Alstom and Norske Tog signed an agreement for the delivery of more than 200 Coradia Nordic regional trains. The contract is worth more than EUR 1.8 billion and involves a firm order for 30 Coradia Nordic trains worth EUR 374 million (NOK 4.2 billion).
Share on: 
