GERMANY: Rheinmetall and Alstom expect a decision within weeks on the sale of Alstom’s locomotive plant in Kassel, home of the Traxx platform. Around 300 people protested outside the factory last week against the takeover, according to IG Metall.
Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger confirmed the talks in late August and said a meeting with Alstom’s management would follow within four weeks, according to Börse-Express. Alstom has said it expects a result soon and that no final decision has been taken. The company had confirmed in April that it was in talks with an unnamed buyer.
The site employs around 900 people, 800 in production and 100 in a service unit spun off at the end of 2025, according to the works council. Which parts of the plant are on offer, and whether the whole workforce would transfer, has not been disclosed by either side.
Second German plant in two years
A sale would move an Alstom plant in Germany into defence production for the second time in two years. Alstom handed its Görlitz plant to the Franco-German defence group KNDS in a staged transfer that started in 2025 and is due to complete in 2027. That transaction is the reference point for the Kassel workforce.
Rheinmetall already operates halls next to the Alstom site, and KNDS has a plant in Kassel. On the day Armin Papperger confirmed the talks, Hesse’s minister-president Boris Rhein and economics minister Kaweh Mansoori signed a letter of intent with Rheinmetall on Kassel-Calden airport.
The site is built for heavy steel fabrication, welding and final assembly, with a workforce trained on it. Rheinmetall has not said what it would produce in Kassel.
Where Traxx would be built
Kassel is the main production site for the Traxx platform. Alstom planned to raise capacity from 40 to 160 locomotives a year in 2026, and plant manager Mathias Papritz said last year the site was fully utilised. The works council and IG Metall say the plant is running at full capacity with a solid order book.
Alstom has not said where Traxx locomotives would be built if the site changes hands. The platform’s customers include leasing companies and freight operators across the continent.
Kassel is not the only plant under capacity pressure. Elsewhere in the supply chain, Talgo has to double its output to work through a EUR 6.2 billion order book.
Alstom’s German portfolio
Alstom has been thinning its German footprint since 2024, concentrating production at Bautzen and Salzgitter. Görlitz was the first plant to leave the group. Kassel would be the second.
IG Metall says a site agreement at Kassel traded holiday pay for job and investment guarantees, and that Alstom has not met them. The union is demanding clarity on which parts of the plant are for sale and guarantees for the employees before any deal is signed.
Locomotives since 1848
Locomotives have been built at the Kassel site since 1848, first under Henschel, later under Bombardier, which Alstom acquired in 2021. The Traxx family was developed there.
IG Metall counted around 300 participants at last week’s protest. The union has pointed to Görlitz as the outcome it wants to avoid, with rail production replaced by defence work.
The next known step is the meeting between Rheinmetall and Alstom’s management within four weeks. Alstom has given no firmer date.