French safety scare over order

摘要

In an overt challenge to open procurement, the French government has sought to prevent Eurostar from placing its order for 10 high-speed trainsets with Siemens. In a joint statement issued simultaneously with the Eurostar press announcement in London, Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo and Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau expressed 'amazement' at Eurostar's failure to take account of Channel Tunnel safety rules in the call for tender for new trains. In fact, no formal invitation to tender was ever issued (p1).