Siemens to equip most of the Swiss Federal Railways network with ETCS system

Siemens is to equip 9,000 of the total 11,000 automatic train control elements in the route network of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) with the European Train Control System (ETCS) type Trainguard 100. The order is worth a total value of around 125 million euros. The contract covers the conversion of the existing train control system to ETCS Level 1 Limited Supervision and the maintenance of the existing signaling system for 25 years. The system will be delivered in eight geographically defined implementation phases in the period between 2012 and 2017.

The Siemens Mobility Division is to equip most of the approximately 3,000 route kilometers of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) network with the European Train Control System of type Trainguard 100 by 2017. The order entails all the necessary adaptation work to the roughly 430 existing interlockings in the network. The various types in use include mechanical, electromechanical and electronic interlockings. The backbone of the Swiss ETCS system will be formed by 5,300 lineside electronic units (LEU) type MiniLEU S11 that transmit information from the trackside signals to the passing trains (intermittent data transmission). The MiniLEU S11 will run on solar power cells and therefore consume 90 percent less energy than conventional, cabled models. This will enable the SBB to save approximately 876,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per annum. The order also includes the supply of 1,200 lineside electronic units type LEU S21 MS, which will be installed wherever continuous data transmission is required.

The trackside signals will be connected to the interlockings via 1,400 signal operating modules type MSTT. Siemens Mobility will also install over 20,000 contactless radio beacons – known as eurobalises – to transmit data between line and rail vehicle. A total of around 80 kilometers of coaxial radiating cable – called euroloops – laid along the base of the rail webs will extend the contact range of the eurobalises up to 800 meters, thereby ensuring the effectiveness (infill) of a current signal aspect before the train passes the signal. The euroloops will consequently boost both the capacity and the safety of the line because they bring continuous functionality to the intermittent transmission capability of the eurobalises.

“Together with SBB, we have developed, tested and optimized two prototype stations with the systems that are going to be used. The longstanding working relationship between SBB and Siemens will help us convert the route network, which currently has some 10,000 automatic train control elements, within the tight time schedule,” said Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Rail Automation Business Unit. “In upgrading the existing train protection system to ETCS Level 1 Limited Supervision, we are taking the first major step in the Swiss ETCS strategy which is aimed at the sustainable optimization of the railway network,” emphasized Philippe Gauderon, Head of SBB Infrastructure and Member of the SBB Management Board.

The solar-powered lineside electronic unit type MiniLEU S11 is part of the Siemens green portfolio which enabled the company to post revenues of some 28 billion euros in fiscal 2010. That makes Siemens the world’s largest supplier of environmentally clean technology. The use of these kinds of products and solutions enabled Siemens’ customers in that same period to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 270 million metric tons, which is equal to the CO2 emitted annually by Delhi, Hong Kong, London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo together.