France places big Bombardier order
MONTREAL — The French national railway company has ordered 83 train sets from Bombardier Transportation, for use by the regional commuter system that serves the Paris area.
The order by SNCF on behalf of the Paris public transport authority is valued at US$968 million.
Bombardier says each of the Regio 2N train sets has space for 1,000 passengers.
They’re scheduled to enter service at the end of 2019, primarily for Line N leaving from the Paris Montparnasse Station.
The order is part of a 2010 deal for up to 860 trains.
To date, 341 of those trains have been ordered for 10 French regions.
Feds approve New Brunswick mine
FREDERICTON — A major mining project proposed for central New Brunswick has received federal environmental assessment approval.
The Sisson Mine project would see the development of an open pit tungsten and molybdenum mine as well as an ore processing facility.
The $579 million project is expected to create 500 jobs during construction and 300 jobs over the 27year life of the mine.
The provincial government estimates the project will result in $280 million in mineral royalties and $245 million in tax revenue over the life of the mine.
The mine site near Stanley sits on one of the largest deposit of tungsten in North America.
Failing Italian banks wound down
FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank says two troubled Italian banks will be wound down because they were about to fail.
The two banks are Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare di Vicenza.
The two banks have struggled to overcome high levels of loans that were not being paid back.
The ECB said Friday it had given the banks time to raise more capital but that the banks had not been able to offer credible solutions. They will now face Italian insolvency proceedings.
Weak banks that can’t lend adequately to businesses have been a key weak spot for Italy and the eurozone economy.
The ECB took over as top banking regulator in 2014 as part of an effort to strengthen oversight of the European Union’s banking system.
P. Rico governor fighting cuts
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor says he’ll go to court to fight a federal control board’s call to cut a public pension system by 10 per cent, furlough tens of thousands of government workers and eliminate Christmas bonuses.
Ricardo Rossello’s comments come amid rising tensions between his administration and a board charged with overseeing the U.S. territory’s finances amid a 10-year recession.
Rossello said Friday that the board cannot impose those measures unilaterally by July 1 without the consent of his administration.
A spokesman said the board had no immediate comment.
The board previously has said those measures would go into effect if Rossello’s administration did not take sufficient cost-saving steps.