Montreal-headquartered Bombardier is in exclusive talks with French railway agency SNCF for a contract worth $12.6 billion to build up to 860 trains, the company said Wednesday.

Talal Zouaoui, spokesperson for Bombardier Transportation, told CBC News negotiations leading to the signing of a formal contract have not started yet, but will "soon."

Bombardier says it is in line for a train contract worth $12.6 billion. (CBC)

The initial stage of the contract would be for 80 train sets, worth about $1.5 billion and could be expanded to 860.

Zouaoui said the contract would have only "minimal" direct benefits in Canada, but "underlines the fact that we are a major player in France.

"This is not the first contract that we've had in France. We've already delivered over 500 train sets similar to this one in different regions of France for SNCF. It just confirms our position."

A final deal would be a major coup for Bombardier's Berlin-based rail equipment division against French rival Alstom, which also made a bid.

Deliveries in 2013

SNCF said the first deliveries of the trains, each with a capacity of 500 passengers, were expected in June 2013.

SNCF told Reuters the new trains would replace old rolling stock and boost its regional network, where traffic is expected to continue to grow strongly.