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.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • RAC survey shows big safety gains with average speed enforcement
    January 11, 2017
    Cheaper and easier communications are providing authorities with new options for influencing driver behaviour. Colin Sowman reports. It’s official; Average speed cameras (ASCs) cut the number of fatal or serious injury crashes by more than a third.
  • A fresh approach to electronic fee collection
    July 16, 2012
    The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is pioneering fresh approaches to Electronic Fee Collection (EFC) deployment in the US. Its new system, operational since January 2009 on all buses and commuter trains, is the country's first full-network rollout of transit e-ticketing technology built on an open-payment network, according to the organisation's Technology Programme Development Manager Craig Roberts.
  • Hitachi Rail Europe wins UK first traffic management contract
    July 28, 2015
    Passengers on some of the busiest commuter lines in the UK can look forward to more frequent and more reliable trains following a deal to provide new traffic management technology on the Thameslink route through central London. Network Rail and the Thameslink Programme have signed a contract with Hitachi Rail Europe (HRE) to deliver a step-change in technology through state-of-the-art traffic management technology.
  • Congestion charge: Big Changes in the Big Apple
    July 11, 2023
    New York City is falling in line with other major global cities in charging drivers for using its streets, writes Adam Hill: the Central Business District Tolling Program is on its way. Probably