| Industry | Rail vehicles |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | La Brugeoise, Nicaise et Delcuve, Les Ateliers Métallurgiques de Nivelles |
| Successor | after 1977 BN Constructions Ferroviaries et Métalliques after 1988 Bombardier Transportation Belgium |
| Headquarters | Bruges, Belgium |
La Brugeoise et Nivelles SA , later BN Constructions Ferroviaries et Métalliques (abbrev. BN) was a Belgian manufacturer of railway locomotives and other rolling stock; it was formed by a merger of two companies La Brugeoise et Nicaise et Delcuve and Les Ateliers Métallurgiques de Nivelles.
The company was acquired by Bombardier Inc. in 1988, plants in Nivelles and Manage closed in 1989 and 2000, as of 2011 the plant based in Bruges operates as Bombardier Transportation Belgium S.A..
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In 1851 Joseph De Jaegher founded a hardware store in the Burg in Bruges, in 1855 this expaned with a steel workshop on the Raamstraat, named Ateliers J. Jaegher; in 1891 this merged with another steel making company in the nearby Gieterijstraat the Usines Ferdinand Feldhaus to form the Ateliers de Construction Forges et Aceries de Bruges. By 1900 the company was a major Belgian metal engineering company. In 1905 the company moved its plant and offices to a larger site with good railway connections close to the Ghent Ostend canal at Sint-Michiels in Bruges. Until 1913 the company operated as the Société Anonym La Brugeoise,[1][2] abbreviated as "La Brugeoise".[3]
In 1913 the company La Brugeoise et Nicaise et Delcuve was formed by the merger of the Bruges based companies La Brugeoise and Nicaise et Delcuve during a re-organisation of the interests of the holding company Trust Métallurgique Belge-Français,[4] and capitalised at 10 million francs; the new company included a modern steel works, forge and mills at Saint-Michel-lez-Bruges.[4]
During World War I the facilities were occupied by German forces, and at the end of the war had been substatially damaged,[1] however post war construction also required the organisation products. In 1919 control of the company was taken by the Société Générale de Belgique.[1][5]
In 1956 this merged with Les Ateliers Métallurgiques de Nivelles to form La Brugeoise et Nivelles. In 1977 the company merged with Constructions Ferroviaries du Centre (CFC) (in Familleureux, Hainaut, Belgium) to form BN Constructions Ferroviaries et Métalliques (BN).[6]
In 1986 Bombardier took at 45% share in BN, which was increased to 90.6% in 1988.[7] The plants at Bruges and Manage became the BN division of Bombardier Eurorail in 1991.[8][9]
The factory in Nivelles closed and was demolished in 1989/90.[10]
In 2000 Bombardier announced it was to close the subsidiary plant BN Manage based in Manage, Belgium; the action attracted criticism from both Trade Unions and the Belgian Government; perception was that Bombardier had used the 'jobs card' to win a Belgian double deck train contract worth 8.5 billion Belgian francs. The closure announcement came as a complete Volte-face from Bombardier's previous statements which included optimistic statements about the Manage plant's future.[11] Train making ended at the site which was re-purposed by Duferco for steel plate processing.[12]
As of 2011 the factory in Bruges is now part of Bombardier Transportation as Bombardier Transportation Belgium S.A..[13]
In 1875 the Manage plant produced its first rail vehicles, in 1885 the Bruges plant produced its first tram.[3] Much of the early output prior was freight wagons.[1]
In addition to railway rolling stock the company also manufactured bridges, locks and sluice gates, cranes, and vessels for chemical and sugar industries.[1]
In 1973 factories in Bruges and Familleureux produced the company's first underground trains, for the STIB.[3]
In 1989 the consortium of BN, ANF Industrie and Bombardier won the order for the construction of the passenger shuttle wagons,[14] valued at 36 billion francs, of which BN's contribution was valued at 8 billion.[15]
In 1998 after takeover by Bombardier company obtained an order with a total value of 22.2 billion belgian francs to produce 78 Bombardier Voyager class trains for the railways in the United Kingdom at the Bruges and Manage plants, BN's value share of the contract was estimated at 8 to 10 billion belgian francs.[16] Deliveries took place in the early 2000s.[17][6]
As part of Bombardier the company also produced Flexity Outlook and Flexity Swift trams for Brussels and Rotterdam respectively, the bodyshells of the Autorail à grande capacité for the SNCF, and Metro vehicles for the Docklands Light Railway.[6]
Additionally the company continued to supply the Belgian Railways (SNCB) with passenger rail vehicles.[6]