Skip to main content

Siemens and Swiss Federal Railways partner on rail traffic control

Siemens and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) have signed a contract worth around US$405 million for the automation and centralisation of rail traffic control of the 3,000km, 760 stop Swiss rail network. During the partnership, which will run until 2015, Siemens will continue the development of the Iltis control and information system, which enables a largely automated operational handling of rail traffic. The computer-based system, specially developed by Siemens for SBB, controls and monitors all train oper
September 3, 2013 Read time: 1 min
189 Siemens and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) have signed a contract worth around US$405 million for the automation and centralisation of rail traffic control of the 3,000km, 760 stop Swiss rail network.

During the partnership, which will run until 2015, Siemens will continue the development of the Iltis control and information system, which enables a largely automated operational handling of rail traffic.  The computer-based system, specially developed by Siemens for SBB, controls and monitors all train operations in the country, including the remote control of interlocking and the monitoring of operations at stations.

Currently operated from twenty-five locations, it is hoped that Iltis will in future be operated from just four centres, to improve communications and coordination and speed up the provision of travel information.

Related Content

  • March 11, 2015
    Data exploits parking potential
    David Crawford parallel parks with innovations in two continents. Surveys of US cities indicate that drivers searching for parking can account for up to 37% of all urban traffic congestion. A 2011 study by IBM of 20 cities around the world found that nearly six out of ten drivers had abandoned their search for a parking space at least once; while motorists generally spent on average 20 minutes looking for a sought-after spot.
  • August 29, 2012
    Modernising India's bus travel
    Award-winning ITS initiatives are promising modernisation of bus travel as a key part of development plans for cities of the Indian state of Karnataka. The Indian state of Karnataka is poised to launch the next stage of a major rollout of ITS technology on its bus network following the August 2012 go-live of an award-winning passenger information system. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which is owned by the state government
  • January 31, 2012
    Wireless traffic data in real time
    The effect of moving objects on the electromagnetic landscape set up by cellular telephony networks can be detected and interpreted to give real-time traffic data across large geographical areas at low cost. Here, we revisit the Celldar concept. Global economic downturn has pushed public-sector agencies, transport administrations among them, to push even harder for cost efficiencies. Unfortunately, when it comes to transport safety and efficiency the public sector often has to work up to a cost rather than
  • April 12, 2013
    Active traffic management - challenges and benefits
    Minnesota DoT has built one of the most intensive Active Traffic Management (ATM) systems on the road today. Like many ITS deployments, the state has gained benefits but also faces many challenges, as Pete Goldin reports. Smart Lanes is the brand name of Minnesota Department of Transportation’s (MnDoT) ATM system on I-35W in the Twin Cities Metro Area. The original system covered 16 miles of I-35W south of Minneapolis starting in 2009, and was extended by two miles in 2011. Additional ATM equipment was inst