Alstom Transport Deutschland, formerly Linke-Hofmann-Busch, is a German

manufacturing company Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

originally established in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) to produce locomotives and

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...

. Its origins lay in the

wheelwright A wheelwright is a Artisan, craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipbuilding ...

business of Gottfried Linke, begun in 1834. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the company was reestablished in

Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven ''Oberzentren'' of Lower ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In 1994,

GEC Alsthom GEC or Gec may refer to: Education * Gedo Education Committee, in Somalia * Glen Eira College, in Caulfield East, Victoria, Australia * Goa Engineering College, India * Government Engineering College (disambiguation) * Guild for Exceptional ...

acquired a 51% shareholding.World Update ''

Railway Age ''Railway Age'' is an American trade magazine for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago (the United States' major railroad hub) and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. History The magazine' ...

'', August 1994, p. 88. It is now part of

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Av ...

; the name Linke-Hofmann-Busch ceased to be used in 2009 when it became Alstom Transport Deutschland GmbH.

Aircraft industry

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, it became one of many companies in Germany drawn into the

aircraft industry An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

even though they had no prior experience in aircraft design. Linke-Hofmann-Busch first entered the aircraft industry by repairing and constructing aircraft designed by other established companies under licence, such as the

Roland C.II The LFG Roland C.II, usually known as the ''Walfisch'' (Whale), was an advanced German reconnaissance aircraft of World War I. It was manufactured by Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft G.m.b.H. Characteristics The C.II had much lower drag than comparab ...

Albatros B.II The Albatros B.II, (post-war company designation L.2) was an unarmed German two-seat reconnaissance biplane of the First World War. Design and development Designed by Robert Thelen based on his 1913 Albatros B.I, the B.II was the aircraft that ...

a, C.III and C.X. In 1916 Linke-Hofmann-Busch was awarded a contract to design and build a four-engined heavy bomber under the ''

Riesenflugzeug A ''Riesenflugzeug'' (plural ''Riesenflugzeuge'', German for "giant aircraft"), sometimes colloquially referred to in English as an R-plane, was any member of a class of large World War I German bombers, possessing at least three aircraft engines ...

'' ("giant aircraft") designation. Two designs were built in prototype form, the R.I and the R.II; both designs were unconventional. The R.I was unsuccessful, but the Linke-Hofmann R.II flew well. However, the war ended before it could go into production. Post-war attempts to build R.II's as passenger and transport aircraft were prevented by the

Allied Control Commission Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allies were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Easter ...

which was concerned about bombers being built illicitly, under the guise of airliners, and the possible resumption of the war.

Rail products

Heavy Rail

* Prototype carriages for the

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remaine ...

(1976). *

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

LHB coach Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coach is a passenger coach of Indian Railways that is developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany (renamed Alstom LHB GmbH in 1998 after the takeover by Alstom and now known as Alstom Transport Deutschland) and mostl ...

are based on a design developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch.

Suburban Rail

* Litra SA and Litra SE for the Copenhagen S-tog (with Siemens, 1996–2006) *

CIÉ 8100 Class The CIÉ 8100 class (also known as the 8300 class) were the first electric multiple units used on the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) system. Built by GEC and Linke-Hofmann-Busch in 1983, they are two-car units, and were the only units used ...

for the

Dublin Area Rapid Transit The Dublin Area Rapid Transit system (stylised as DART) is an electrified commuter rail railway network serving the coastline and city of Dublin, Ireland. The service makes up the core of Dublin's suburban railway network, stretching from Gre ...

(with

GEC GEC or Gec may refer to: Education * Gedo Education Committee, in Somalia * Glen Eira College, in Caulfield East, Victoria, Australia * Goa Engineering College, India * Government Engineering College (disambiguation) * Guild for Exceptional ...

, 1983–1984): built to a metro-style specification. *

DB Class 420 The Class 420 (german: Baureihe 420) is a commuter electric multiple unit train type in service on German S-Bahn networks since 1972. Their use in Munich during the 1972 Summer Olympics earned them the colloquial name (Olympic multiple unit). ...

for S-Bahn services in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Rhine-Main The Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'' or ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'', abbreviated FRM), is the second-largest metropolitan re ...

Rhine-Ruhr The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region (german: Metropolregion Rhein-Ruhr) is the largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the region covers ...

, and Stuttgart.

Metro

* M1, M2 and M3 series for the

Amsterdam Metro The Amsterdam Metro ( nl, Amsterdamse metro) is a rapid transit system serving Amsterdam, Netherlands, and extending to the surrounding municipalities of Diemen and Ouder-Amstel. Until 2019 it also served the municipality of Amstelveen but t ...

(1973–1980) * DT2 series for the

Hamburg U-Bahn The Hamburg U-Bahn is a rapid transit system serving the cities of Hamburg, Norderstedt and Ahrensburg in Germany. Although referred to by the term U-Bahn (the "U" commonly being understood as standing for "underground"), most of the system's t ...

(with

Kiepe Kiepe Electric GmbH (formerly Vossloh Kiepe) is a German manufacturer of electrical traction equipment for trams, trolleybuses other road and rail transport vehicles, as well as air-conditioning and heating systems, and conveyor device components. ...

). * DT4 series for the Hamburg U-Bahn (with

ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ...

Light Rail

* TT Class 8 for the

Trondheim Tramway The Trondheim Tramway in Trondheim, Norway, is the world's most northerly tramway system, following the closure and dismantling of the Arkhangelsk tramways in Russia. It consists of one 8.8-km-long line, the Gråkallen Line, running from St. Ol ...

(1984) * P86 Stock for the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of L ...

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

(1986) * TW 2000 for the

Hanover Stadtbahn The Hanover Stadtbahn is a Stadtbahn ( light rail) system in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany. The Stadtbahn opened on 29 September 1975, gradually replacing the city's tramway network over the course of the following 25 years. Curren ...

(1997–2000)

References

*The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914-1919, G.W Haddow & Peter M. Grosz, 1963. Published by Putnam & Company 42 Great Russell Street London *

External links

* {{Authority control Alstom Companies based in Wrocław Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany Locomotive manufacturers of Germany