Locomotive, Electric, NS Class 1600

History: The NS Class 1600 is a type of B′B′ electric locomotive built by Alstom between 1980 and 1983 based on the SNCF Class BB 7200, and in use by the Dutch Railways since 1981. They were styled by the French industrial designer Paul Arzens. The Class 1600 was ordered in 1978, after several types of locomotives were tested in the 1970s. One of those was the SNCF BB 7200, on which the 1600 is based. The 58 locomotives were delivered between 1981 and 1983. As a result of their delivery, the old Class 1000 and Class 1500 units were taken out of service. Thanks to the electronic power control, these locomotives were not only the most economical but also the most powerful locomotives that Dutch Railways had.

Railroad/Company: Alstom is a French multinational company operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, and Pendolino high-speed trains, in addition to suburban, regional and metro trains, and Citadis trams.

Alstom (originally as Alsthom) was formed from a merger between Compagnie Française Thomson Houston and the Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques in 1928; significant acquisitions included the Constructions Electriques de France (1932), shipbuilder Chantiers de l'Atlantique (1976), and parts of ACEC SA (Belgium, late 1980s). A merger with parts of the General Electric Company plc (UK) formed GEC-Alsthom in 1989; the company became Alstom in 1998 when it split from the Alcatel-Alsthom group (formerly Compagnie Générale d'Electricité); the 'h' was removed from the name to ease pronunciation on international markets.

In 2014, Alstom and General Electric (GE) announced that a US$17 billion (€12.4 billion) bid for the company's power and grid divisions had been made and provisionally accepted. The acquisition was finalised on 2 November 2015, with GE acquiring Alstom's power generation and electricity transmission business (combined as GE Power) leaving the Alstom company operating solely in the rail transport market.

In 2017, Alstom announced a proposed merger with Siemens Mobility of Germany, to be completed in 2018, at which point the company would be called Siemens Alstom. The proposed merger was eventually prohibited by the European Commission.

In February 2020, Alstom announced that it made an offer to acquire Bombardier Transportation division. The proposed acquisition was this time authorized by the European Commission, with minor remedies such as the selling of the Alstom's plant in Reichshoffen (Alsace, France). The acquisition was completed in January 2021, at which point all the former Bombardier Transportation units are operating under the Alstom brand.

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