Hello and welcome to another M-Next podcast. I'm Sam Wilkin, Brussels News Editor, and today we're going to talk about the Siemens-Alstom merger. It's the biggest merger being reviewed by the European Commission at the moment, both big train companies that make some of the most iconic

trains in Europe, including the Eurostar trains and the TGV in France. It's run into a lot of

controversy in Europe and there's talk that the merger could be blocked by the European Commission.

Here to discuss are Nicholas Hurst and Natalie McNellis, who have been covering the deal closely

from Brussels. Hi, Nicholas and Natalie. Hi, Sam. Natalie, start us off. Tell us a bit more about

this deal and why it's so controversial. The deal involves combining the two biggest rail companies

in Europe, and they have decades. They've been here since the get-go.

And all of the rail infrastructure has been installed with them in mind or involved. And so

they own so much of what they call the installed base. And so for the two of them to merge

is something that competitors and customers are

worried about because they say, well, if those two aren't competing with each other anymore,

what's going to be, what's it going to be like for us? And how much do they own in terms of breadth?

It's more than just trains, isn't it? What other assets do they have? Well, they own the tracks,

for example, and all of the wayside equipment that signals to the train, you know, whether it has to

stop or go, whether it has to switch or not. And so it's basically a whole lot of infrastructure

that's necessary in order for any other company to be able to get into the market.

Yeah.

And just how dominant are they in the market?

What sort of market shares are we talking between the two of them?

I mean, I've heard market shares, a combined market share of 80% in some markets.

Nicholas has spoken a lot to the national rail infrastructure managers, and their stance on this is that in certain markets. Nicholas has spoken a lot to the national rail infrastructure managers,

and their stance on this is that in certain markets, it would be nearing total control.

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