Skip to main content

Thales and Kapsch to provide systems for Bulgarian railway

In a contract worth US$47 million, Thales and Kapsch are to provide Bulgarian railway infrastructure company NRIC with the electronic signalling and telecommunication technology for the Sofia-Plovdiv railway line, part of the International Rail Corridor IV from Dresden to Istanbul. Kapsch CarrierCom will deliver the GSM-R technology for the project, while Thales will deploy electronic interlocking systems for five stations, including outdoor facilities, ETCS (European Train Control System) Level 1 tracksid
February 8, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
In a contract worth US$47 million, 596 Thales and 81 Kapsch are to provide Bulgarian railway infrastructure company NRIC with the electronic signalling and telecommunication technology for the Sofia-Plovdiv railway line, part of the International Rail Corridor IV from Dresden to Istanbul.  

Kapsch CarrierCom will deliver the GSM-R technology for the project, while Thales will deploy electronic interlocking systems for five stations, including outdoor facilities, ETCS (European Train Control System) Level 1 trackside equipment and CheckPoint solutions (trackside train condition monitoring).  GSM-R access will be set up by Kapsch CarrierCom, including dispatcher extensions, CAB radios and handheld devices.

Thomas Schöpf, chief operating officer of Kapsch CarrierCom commented, “These systems will enable the line to support an increase in train speed and higher train frequencies, significantly increasing line capacity”.

“The Thales centre of competence in Austria for interlocking systems and ETCS combined with  Kapsch’ GSM-R expertise enables us to jointly expand the line as part of the International Rail Corridor IV, where we already have been chosen for the 128 km Plovdiv-Svilengrad line.” says Dr. Alfred Veider, CEO of Thales Austria.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • LiDAR sets its sights on future problems
    February 23, 2017
    AAdvances in LiDAR are helping transport authorities improve services and identify potential problem areas, as geospatial technology expert Dr Neil Slatcher explains. The effects of climate change on the transport infrastructure have long been a cause of concern within the transportation sector - and not only on the structures themselves but also on the surrounding areas. This year, those concerns have become reality with landslides, structural collapses and surfacing issues impacting services across the wo
  • Can GNSS solve the tolling world’s woes?
    December 5, 2013
    Kapsch’s Arno Klamminger and Wolfgang Fleischer consider the need for an agnostic approach to technology for charging and tolling. Periodically, given the march of technology, it is worth pausing and taking stock of where we have got to and where we go next. Such reflections are necessary if we are to take full advantage of what we have at our disposal and, potentially, avoid decisions which push us down technological culs de sac. A look at the use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based technol
  • Thales partners to use big data for smarter transportation in Hong Kong
    March 24, 2016
    The Thales Innovation in Hong Kong and its partner the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has been awarded a collaborative R&D project by the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission to develop a big data platform with state-of-the-art technology. This will be used to prototype smart transportation applications, enabling current transportation challenges to be addressed: near real time crowd monitoring, predictive maintenance, etc. The Thales Innovation Hub aims to examine the c
  • San Diego rail line gets positive train control
    July 24, 2013
    Rail Technology supplier Wabtec is to supply Herzog Technologies to provide with positive train control (PTC) equipment and services for Oceanside, California’s North County Transit District (NCTD) in a deal worth US$9 million. The contract includes an option worth an additional US$5 million. Under the initial contract, Wabtec will provide its interoperable electronic train management system (I-ETMS) equipment and installation for seven locomotives and ten passenger transit cab cars on NCTD's Coaster train,