GERMAN infrastructure manager DB InfraGO has signed a contract with Alstom for the installation of ETCS on the 64km line between Ratingen West and Leverkusen Morsbroich in northwest Germany.
The contract, the value of which has not been disclosed, is the first call-off under a framework contract agreed between German Rail (DB) and Alstom in 2025. The Ratingen - Leverkusen section of the Rhine-Alpine Corridor will be equipped with ETCS Level 2 in addition to the existing PZB signalling system, and will be operated from the digital control centre (DSZ) in Wuppertal.
The project also includes the construction of two ETCS radio block centres (RBC). The Düsseldorf-Rath RBC, covering 43km from Ratingen West to Immigrath, is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2029. Following this, the Solingen RBC will be built, enabling the installation of ETCS on the 21km section between Opladen and Leverkusen Morsbroich.
DB InfraGO’s Rhine-Alpine Corridor includes most of the German section of the European Union’s (EU) North Sea-Rhine-Mediterranean TEN-T Corridor and extends from Oberhausen-Sterkrade in northwest Germany to Haltingen near Basle and the Swiss border in southern Germany.
Alstom is one of four companies awarded framework contracts to supply digital signalling and train control systems to DB, worth a total of €6.3bn. The other suppliers are MerMec, Hitachi Rail, and a consortium of Siemens Mobility and Leonhard Weiss.
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