The Canadian aviation and train giant, Bombardier, announced today it has signed an agreement worth $241-million to provide a monorail system in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The contract marks the first project for the Canadian company in the country.

The monorail will stretch up to 3.6km with six stations, and will be operate on a fully automated basis. The entire system will include 12 cars in total and will be situated in the heart of the city’s growing financial district.

Bombardier will be responsible for the implementation of the entire project, including manufacturing the locomotives, installation, and testing, and continued maintenance for up to ten years starting when the system is functional.

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Canada’s plane and train maker Bombardier today reported Q4 2009 earnings and full year earnings for fiscal 2009.

The company reported total sales of USD $5.4-billion in Q4, with total sales in fiscal 2009 as $19.4-billion. Total sales were down insignificantly from fiscal 2008, which were $19.7-billion.

Bombardier reported net income of $179-million in Q4 2009 ($0.10 per diluted share), compared to $312-million in the same period last year.

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Bombardier today reached a deal with France to build up to 129 new concept regional double-deck trains.

Right now, Bombardier is confirmed to build 80 trains, at a price of EUR 800-million (USD $1.1-billion). The contract could potentially be worth up to $11-billion US if all orders are fulfilled.

Regional French banks will be financing the project that will see new lines in Nord-Pas de Calais, Aquitaine, Bretagne, among other regions in France.

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Bombardier Zefiro high-speed Chinese train (high res)

Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier has announced it has been awarded a significant $2 billion contract to build 80 ultra high-speed trains for China.

Bombardier will build the Zefiro 380 trains that can travel up to 380 km/h.

Bombardier is scheduled to deliver the first train by the end of 2012 with all the trains being delivered by 2014.

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Montreal-based airplane and rail maker Bombardier has announced it will cut 3,000 (10% of its total worldwide headcount). jobs from its aerospace division. The jobs cuts will affect workers in Toronto, Montreal, Mexico, Ireland, and the U.S.

Bombardier sales of airplanes have fallen significantly given lower demand as a result of the global financial crisis. Bombardier reported it delivered 349 planes last fiscal year, down from 361 delivered planes the year before.

Bombardier CEO Pierre Beaudoin said today, “We believe we are well positioned to face this difficult economic environment with a strong balance sheet, high level of liquidity,”

Despite the new job cuts, Bombardier is still actively hiring for other aircraft divisions such as the CSeries division.

More recently, Bombardier’s biggest competitor Boeing announced 10,000 job cuts. Competitor Cessna Aircraft also recently announced 2,000 more job cuts.