Skip to main content

Siemens, Thales land Spanish train deal

Spanish administrator of railway infrastructures, Adif, has awarded the Thales/Siemens joint venture a contract for the installation of traffic control, automatic train protection, telecommunications and safety technologies on the Olmedo-Ourense high-speed line section, together with maintenance over a 20-year period. The amount of the contract is US$637 million. Thales is to install the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) Level 2 automatic train protection system, wayside LED light signal
November 25, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Spanish administrator of railway infrastructures, Adif, has awarded the 596 Thales/189 Siemens joint venture a contract for the installation of traffic control, automatic train protection, telecommunications and safety technologies on the Olmedo-Ourense high-speed line section, together with maintenance over a 20-year period. The amount of the contract is US$637 million.

Thales is to install the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) Level 2 automatic train protection system, wayside LED light signals, axle counters for safe train detection, wheel sensors and landline telecommunications systems. Thales will also install new state-of-the-art electronic interlockings at several stations on the Medina del Campo-Zamora-Ourense conventional line affected by the work on the high-speed line.

The company will also provide all GSM-R mobile communications systems, power supply for the facilities, auxiliary detection systems, equipment buildings and auxiliary building work.

Siemens will install its safety solution based on electronic interlockings and associated technologies, with the ASFA system, centralised traffic control, supply of balises, track circuits, video surveillance systems and access control.

ERTMS level 2 will allow a maximum speed of 350 km/h on this 331 kilometre stretch of the railway, reducing the journey to two hours. In 2018, it will provide a high-speed railway link between Ourense in Galicia and Olmedo near Valladolid.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • MTA names Thales a Genius Transit Challenge winner
    April 3, 2018
    Thales has won the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Genius Transit Challenge’s signalling category for its onboard systems. The technology behind the system is designed with the intention of carrying out train positioning more efficiently while maintaining a high standard of safety, reducing delays and mitigating costs. The solution, according to Thales, could be implemented in approximately one-third of the time of the current plan. In addition, it aims to reduce maintenance effort and main
  • Developing a wireless cooperative traffic management system
    March 14, 2012
    The use by MDOT of 90-foot concrete poles on which to mount CCTV equipment reduces the number of poles needed to monitor a given area and incidences of occlusion
  • Smarter transport remains key to smart cities
    January 9, 2018
    Colin Sowman looks at some of the challenges and solutions that will provide enhanced transport efficiency in tomorrow’s smarter cities. However you define a ‘smart city’, one of the key ingredients will be an efficient transport system. As most governments and city authorities face financial constraints, incremental improvements in the existing systems is the most likely way forward. In London, new trains and signalling are improving the capacity of the Underground but that then reveals previously
  • Huawei advocates for change
    April 23, 2025
    Achieving technological change also requires a shift in mindset, as Jacky Wang, vice president of Huawei’s Smart Transportation business unit, explains