Bombadier consortium wins signal contract
The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa)‚ the state-owned operator of Metrorail‚ on Wednesday (27 March) awarded a R1.1bn contract to a Bombadier consortium for the upgrading of signalling on the main rail corridors around Durban.
Prasa is modernising its signalling equipment to make its operations safer and more predictable ahead of the introduction of new rolling stock. The French company Alstom is to begin delivering new coaches to the agency under its R123bn rolling stock fleet renewal programme.
The signalling technology‚ called Interflo‚ will be installed at 42 stations along 120km of double track. Interflo has been used successfully in Russia‚ Thailand‚ Brazil and parts of Europe‚ Bombardier said.
The system‚ which will allow more trains to run on the railway network at greater frequencies‚ is expected to be working by 2017.
Other companies in the consortium include ERB Technologies‚ Basil Read‚ Bakara Engineering‚ R&H Railway Consultants‚ SIMS and Tractionel.