PLATTSBURGH — They are in many ways, the flagship manufacturing company of the region, and they continue to experience success and produce some of the finest rail cars in the world.

Alstom has been making world-class rail cars in Plattsburgh since 1996. The company arrived to the City of Plattsburgh with much fanfare back then as it was looked upon as a great supplier of local jobs, not to mention beautiful trains.

It was known as Bombardier, but in 2021, the transportation division was sold to French railcar and locomotive manufacturer Alstom.

Bombardier Inc.’s two major components included its aviation and transportation divisions.

While Bombardier Aviation, based in Montreal, focuses on aircrafts, Bombardier Transportation, based in Germany, focuses on railcars.

The transportation division has become a major manufacturer in the City of Plattsburgh with its local plant located on Main Mill Street.

Currently there are between 230 and 240 workers at Alstom in Plattsburgh, and they need more as they work to fulfill a contract to build double-decker trains for the New Jersey rail system as well as trains for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in San Francisco, explained Kristin Darrah, quality management systems director.

“Right now, we are building trains for New Jersey and those are double-deckers that are built from the ground up,” Darrah said.

“They are stainless steel so it requires a lot of welding.”

Alstom has about 23 to 25 welders on hand now, and they need to about double that as they ramp up to execute the contract, Darrah said.

“That’s not including all the assemblers and the test technicians and everybody else that supports supports that bill,” she said.

With an extension on the BART car contract, and the company always looking for more contracts, work is expected to be steady at the Plattsburgh Alstom plant.

“We’ll be making train cars here at Plattsburgh for awhile,” Darrah said.

To fill jobs at the plant, Alstom is looking for workers to fill roles in assembly of trains, quality engineering, management, human resources and more.

Manufacturing Day at Clinton Community College showed area students the possibilities.

Darrah said the event went well.

“It gets the kids engaged in thinking about their future because without them going into trade and understanding what’s required, the whole whole U.S. manufacturing is going to suffer if we don’t get our kids involved and excited about the opportunities that are here, and especially right here in Plattsburgh,” she said.

Darrah said there was a lot of interest in welding and the program at CCC that they helped develop with the help of Keegan Hartman, a welding expert at Alstom.

“That is very exciting to see,” she said.

“They are decent paying jobs starting at $23.50 (per hour).”