Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Alstom signed a framework agreement to upgrade 449 vehicles with ETCS signalling technology with the first fixed call-off comprising 195 trains.
EUR 100 million is the value of the contract and covers Railjet trains and locomotives of ÖBB and has a duration until 2030.
Under the framework agreement, Alstom will upgrade the vehicles with ETCS by converting to ETCS Baseline 3.6 that will take place under the responsibility of the French comoany in the ÖBB workshops in Linz and Vienna.
The volume and density of traffic is constantly increasing, and rail transport is becoming more international. To meet these challenges safely, state-of-the-art signalling technology is being used and lines and vehicles are being upgraded. ETCS (European Train Control System) is a standardised, transnational railway safety system that is already in use in many European countries.
The system improves train control by allowing trains to run at shorter intervals and increases safety by automatically braking trains if they are travelling too fast or too close together. The upgrade is an important step towards increasing rail transport capacity and reducing maintenance costs – all while maximising safety.
With this contract, Alstom will support ÖBB in providing reliable, cross-border passenger and freight transport throughout Europe.
According to the Work Plan 2022 of the European Coordinator for ERTMS, Austria is among top EU countries with the one of the highest number of vehicles planned to be equipped with ETCS in the following years, to be put in operation, with an estimated fleet of 977 vehicles. In the case of new vehicles, the highest number has also been identified in Austria with 859.
With over 120 ETCS projects worldwide, 24,800 onboard units in over 200 vehicle types and 13,300 km of equipped lines, Alstom is a global leader in the digitalisation of rail transport.
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