ALSTOM and Thales have been selected by JR East to negotiate a contract to install communications-based train control (CBTC) on the Ayase - Toride Joban Local suburban line in Tokyo with a view to awarding a contract to one of the companies in December. JR East plans to introduce CBTC on the line in about 2020.
POLAND's infrastructure manager PKP PLK has awarded a €35m contract to Bombardier to install ERTMS Level 2 on the 148km Legnica – Wroclaw – Opole line.
INVENSYS Rail has been awarded a $A 39m ($US 40.6m) turnkey contract by South Australia's Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure to install ERTMS signalling and train control on Adelaide's commuter rail network as part of the Adelaide Rail Revitalisation programme.
BULGARIAN track authority National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) has awarded a consortium of Thales Austria and Kapsch CarrierCom a €35m turnkey contract to install ERTMS on the 133km Sofia – Plovdiv line, which forms part of Trans-European Corridor IV from Dresden and Nuremberg to Istanbul.
TRAINS on London Underground's Victoria Line are now running at 1min 49sec headways during peak periods to provide 33 trains per hour, which Transport for London (TfL) says is the most intensive train service in Britain.
CBTC is already the train control system of choice for new metro projects and is gaining favour for metro resignalling schemes as well as high-capacity commuter rail projects.
NORFOLK Southern will spend $US 2bn on capital improvement projects in 2013, including $US 831m on infrastructure maintenance and replacement of sections of rail, sleepers, ballast and bridges.
LATVIAN Railways (LDZ) has selected a consortium of Bombardier and Belam Riga to deliver Bombardier's Interflo 200 mainline signalling system on a section of the Bolderaja - Zasulauks line which connects the capital Riga with the Bolderaja and Riga harbour area. The contract is worth Lats 9.5m ($US 17.9m), including a Lats 3.7m share for Bombardier.
INVENSYS Rail Dimetronic has begun dynamic testing of the signalling system on the initial 4.3km section of Singapore's Downtown Line between Chinatown and Bugis in preparation for the start of commercial services in October.
DANISH infrastructure manager Banedanmark has commissioned Siemens to equip 840 rail vehicles with GSM-R technology in an order worth €20m.
