SNCF Réseau awarded Alstom – Setec Ferroviaire consortium a EUR 50 million contract to supply the Atlas ERTMS Level 2 system, configurable to the hybrid Level 3, on over 500 km of the Paris-Lyon high speed line.
While Alstom will carry out the design, equipment supply, installation work, tests and maintenance of its Atlas solution, Setec Ferroviaire will be in charge of verifying the design, integrated project management and testing.
“We are very proud to win this contract and to support SNCF Réseau in its ambitions. This project is a key step in the development of the future high-performance rail network in France,” Jean-Baptiste Eyméoud, Senior Vice President France at Alstom, said.
The Atlas ERTMS Level 2 system for the Paris-Lyon line will be developed at Alstom’s centre of excellence for rail signalling systems in Charleroi, Belgium. The project management will be carried out by a dedicated team at Alstom’s headquarters in Saint-Ouen in France.
In France, following the deployment of the ERTMS Level 1 Atlas solution on Rail Freight Corridor 2 (Rotterdam/Antwerp – Luxembourg – Basel/Lyon), ERTMS Level 2 Atlas will, for the first time, be implemented on a high-speed line without interrupting traffic.
To increase the line’s performance, SNCF Réseau plans to carry out a technological breakthrough by regenerating the interlocking centres using computer-based interlocking, as well as by reinforcing the train power supply system and finally by equipping its infrastructure with several technological innovations such as the ERTMS 2, Centralised Network Control (railway “control tower”) and Operational Traffic Management 2.0.
Technological innovation will be used to optimise the existing infrastructure. From 2025, 14 trains will be able to operate in each direction during peak hours, then, following additional infrastructure work, 16 trains by 2030 compared with 13 at present. In parallel, the project will improve the regularity of traffic and adapt the line to European interoperability standards between countries.
The Paris-Lyon high speed line is the busiest route in Europe with 240 trains per day on the main section and it will become busier in the years to come, due to the opening of the rail passenger market. In its current configuration, it is at maximum capacity. Modernising the line is a priority project for SNCF Réseau as well as for Europe, which is investing EUR 125 million to the project.
Share on:
