Swiss expertise to improve rail network

Headquartered in the Greater Zurich Area, Siemens Mobility AG has landed two contracts from the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). According to a press release, the contracts have been awarded in the context of an expansion and modernization project of the rail network in the Sydney metropolitan area. The overall value of the two contracts comes to the equivalent of around 137 million Swiss francs.

Siemens Mobility will be introducing a new traffic management system in Sydney. According to the information available, this system was developed in Switzerland and is based on the most recent versions of the Iltis rail traffic management system designed by Siemens Mobility and the Rail Control System (RCS), which is a development of SBB, the Swiss national railway company. The traffic management system is to be integrated in the new ETCS-L2 (European Train Control System), which Siemens describes as leading train control technology that is used in “some of the best and most efficient rail networks worldwide”.

Moreover, Siemens Mobility will additionally be responsible for the implementation of Automatic Train Operation (ATO). This supports train drivers in their efforts to provide more frequent, more reliable, and more consistent train travel.

With this modernization project, the NSW government intends to offer more regular and dependable connections. According to Siemens, the rail network in the Sydney metropolitan area is one of the busiest across the whole of the southern hemisphere. The two contracts also provide for regular maintenance services for up to 30 years.