Skip to main content

Thales and Siemens bag Spanish high speed rail contract

A joint venture composed of Thales and Siemens Rail Automation has been awarded a contract valued US$75 million by Spanish infrastructure manager Adif for the installation of signalling, traffic control, European Train Control System (ERTMS), communications and video surveillance technologies along the 50 kilometre Pajares line, which is part of the León-Asturias high-speed line, linking the centre of Spain to the north of the country. The two companies will also maintain the installation for at least a ye
April 25, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
A joint venture composed of 596 Thales and 189 Siemens Rail Automation has been awarded a contract valued US$75 million by Spanish infrastructure manager Adif for the installation of signalling, traffic control, European Train Control System (ERTMS), communications and video surveillance technologies along the 50 kilometre Pajares line, which is part of the León-Asturias high-speed line, linking the centre of Spain to the north of the country.  The two companies will also maintain the installation for at least a year, with the possibility of a one-year extension.

The contract also includes the development and installation of train protection systems, fixed-line telecommunications, centralised traffic control (CTC), access control and video surveillance systems.

The works will be carried out in two phases; the First to allow for commercial operation under the protection of the Automatic Braking and Signal Announcement (ASFA) system supplied by Siemens Rail Automation; and the second will see the installation of the ERTMS Level 2 system supplied by Thales, which will allow trains to reach speeds of up to 350 kilometres per hour.

Related Content

  • October 28, 2016
    New system expedites border crossings
    Enforcing border controls can create long queues for travellers, David Crawford looks at potential solutions. Long delays at border crossings in both North America and Europe have sparked the development of new queue visualisation and management technologies that are cutting hours, even days, off international passenger and freight journeys. At the westernmost end of the 2,019km (1,250 mile) Mexico–US frontier, two parallel crossings between Tijuana, in the former country, and the border city of San Diego,
  • October 22, 2014
    Using electricity to power road freight
    Next year sees the start of the first real-life electrified road system for transporting freight. Worldwide freight transportation is predicted to double by 2050 but despite expansion of global rail infrastructure only one third of this additional freight transport can be handled by trains. This means that the largest proportion of freight transport will continue to be by road and as a result, experts expect global CO2 emissions from road freight traffic to more than double by 2050.
  • November 21, 2012
    Transportation hub the centre of sustainable urban development
    A marriage of transit, technology and culture is taking shape in Minneapolis, with ITS systems vital to hopes for a sustainable development centred on a hub of public transportation. Construction started in July this year on ‘The Interchange’ – a station in the Midwest US city of Minneapolis claimed as the most spectacular expression yet of the fast-spreading North American concept of transit-oriented development (TOD). Due for completion in 2014, the Interchange is designed as a multi-modal public transpor
  • April 26, 2013
    ITS asset management matters
    Maintenance of on-road ITS kit needs to become more sophisticated; while new technologies can deliver better road maintenance. David Crawford investigates both sides of the issue "Good information is key to effective ITS asset maintenance,” says Ian Routledge of the Ian Routledge Consultancy (IRC), whose Imtrac (Information Management for TRAffic Control) system is poised for European expansion. Developed as an ‘intelligent filing cabinet’ for storing information about on-road equipment, the online database