MADRID/PARIS (Reuters) - An Alstom (PA:ALSO) and Bombardier (TO:BBDb) consortium is the only bidder for a 3 billion euro ($3.33 billion) contract to supply commuter trains after French rail operator SNCF told trainmaker CAF (MC:CAF) that it is out of the race.
A CAF spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the Spanish firm had received a letter last week eliminating it from the process.
France's Alstom, which in September threatened to cut jobs at one of its manufacturing plants due to a lack of orders, is bidding for the contract with Canada's Bombardier. No other firms were vying for the tender.
An Alstom executive said the firm had no comment to make on CAF, but that the group was scheduled to submit documents for its final offer on Nov. 7.
An SNCF executive said the tender process was on-going and that a final decision to provide the 270 trains to serve the Paris region would be made by year-end.
($1 = 0.9013 euros)