Alstom Transport to appeal latest Eurostar procurement ruling
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Alstom Transport has been given permission to appeal a ruling that handed victory to Eurostar in a case regarding the latter’s decision to order Channel Tunnel trains from Germany company Siemens.
Earlier this month the High Court ruled handed victory to Eurostar when it ruled that the operator is not a utility and so is not obliged to comply with the Utilities Contract Regulations 2006 (20 January 2012).
Lord Justice Roth gave Alstom, which is being represented by Hogan Lovells partners Ciara Kennedy-Loest and Rupert Sydenham, permission to appeal the ruling on Friday.
In giving permission to appeal, Roth LJ said he thought the question of the proper interpretation of ’network’ in the Utilities Procurement Regulations was clearly novel and without authority. He gave permission to appeal without restriction.
The ruling relates to the case brought by Alstom against Eurostar after the latter granted Siemens the contract for building a new fleet of trains in anticipation of the Channel Tunnel being opened up to its competitors.
The judgment in the ongoing legal battle was a major win for Eurostar, which was represented by Monckton Chambers’ Michael Bowsher QC, who was instructed by Burges Salmon partner Chris Jackson.
If Alstom’s latest appeal is unsuccessful it will mean that the case can only now proceed on a secondary claim brought by Alstom over Eurostar’s ’tender contract’ argument.
Keating Chambers’ Sarah Hannaford QC has been instructed to lead the appeal.
