Skip to main content

Thales to upgrade New York’s Queens Boulevard subway line

In a contract worth US$49.6 million from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Thales is to upgrade the New York subway’s busy Queens Boulevard Line with its signalling solution. The contract includes the deployment of the Thales’s communications-based train control system, SelTrac CBTC, as well as the supply of equipment for the line’s train fleet. Design work for the Queens Boulevard Line is getting underway and installations are expected to begin in mid-2017.
October 1, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
In a contract worth US$49.6 million from the New York 1267 Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), 596 Thales is to upgrade the New York subway’s busy Queens Boulevard Line with its signalling solution.

The contract includes the deployment of the Thales’s communications-based train control system, SelTrac CBTC, as well as the supply of equipment for the line’s train fleet. Design work for the Queens Boulevard Line is getting underway and installations are expected to begin in mid-2017.

The contract is one of two that will allow New York City Transit to operate more trains per hour on this line, thereby increasing passenger capacity, and provide improved and more reliable services.  When complete, this multi-year contract will enable the line to use a CBTC system on multiple routes. The other contract was awarded to 189 Siemens.

MTA sees the line as being the first interoperable line in the world, which will allow Thales’ equipment to work seamlessly with other CBTC suppliers’ equipment.

SelTrac CBTC continuously updates train positions, distances and travel speeds, allowing for faster and more efficient operations. Continuous updates allow the subway system to recover quickly from delays and restore consistent wait times at subway stations for passengers.

The installation of SelTrac CBTC will maintain the signalling system in a state of good repair and will also enhance safety for passengers and employees alike. With CBTC, NYC Transit can program a work zone so trains cannot exceed a set speed, making the work zone much safer for workers on the tracks.

Related Content

  • September 6, 2012
    Thales to upgrade Norwegian railway
    Thales has announced that it has been awarded a framework contract by the Norwegian rail administrator, Jernbaneverket (JBV), to supply a new railway signal interlocking system. The first three projects in the contract, worth over US$41,400,000, are for new signalling systems for the Sandnes-Stavanger line, the Ganddal cargo terminal and Høvik station.
  • February 28, 2013
    New York's award-winning traffic control system
    A comprehensive ITS strategy in New York built on a system of key building blocks has been crowned with an IRF award for the city’s Midtown in Motion adaptive control system. Jon Masters reviews New York’s ITS modernisation plan as the city looks to the next phase of expansion. In January this year the International Road Federation (IRF) presented TransCore and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) with the IRF Global Road Achievement Award. This was for deployment of New York’s Midtown in
  • May 30, 2014
    Network Rail opts for Thales’ TMS
    Thales is to provide the UK’s Network Rail with its Aramis traffic management system (TMS) at two new Regional Operating Centres (ROCs) in Romford and Cardiff. This will be the first time that the internationally proven TMS technology has been deployed in the UK, and is part of Network Rail’s significant investment targeted at improving rail network performance and capacity. When rolled out nationally, TMS technology will help Network Rail integrate, operate and manage the UK rail network through twelve
  • March 26, 2012
    Thales wins Montreal Metro communications contract
    Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) has awarded Thales a contract for a high performance broadband radio network communication system. It will comprise a management system, over 250 wayside radios, onboard radios, antennas for installation throughout the tunnels and on STM’s train fleet, network security devices and CCTV cameras for monitoring passenger flow at all station platforms.