The use of austenitic nickel-containing stainless steels as concrete reinforcement offers excellent corrosion protection for concrete structures in harsh chloride bearing environments but is often limited due to the very high costs of these materials. Manganese bearing nickel-free stainless steels can be a cost-effective alternative for corrosion resistant reinforcements. Little, however, is known about the electrochemistry and even less on surface chemistry of these materials in alkaline media simulating concrete pore solutions. In this work a combined electrochemical (ocp = open circuit potential) and XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) surface analytical investigation on the austenitic manganese bearing DIN 1.4456 (X8CrMnMoN18-18-2) stainless steel immersed into 0.1 M NaOH and more complex alkaline concrete pore solutions was performed. The results show that the passive film composition changes with immersion time, being progressively enriched in chromium oxy-hydroxide becoming similar to the conventional nickel-containing stainless steels. The composition of the metal interface beneath the passive film is strongly depleted in manganese and enriched in iron; chromium has nearly the nominal composition. The results are discussed regarding the film growth mechanism (ageing) of the new nickel-free stainless steel in alkaline solutions compared to traditional austenitic steels. Combining the results from pitting potential measurements with the composition of the passive film and the underlying metal interface, it can be concluded that the resistance against localized corrosion of the new nickel-free stainless steel relies on the strong chromium(III) and molybdenum (VI) oxy-hydroxide enrichment in the passive film. (c) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.