Thales strengthens its position on the Polish rail market

The consortium led by Bombardier Transportation, with Thales and Nokia Siemens Networks has won the contract to modernize the signalling of the 350 km long E65 railway line linking Warsaw and Gdynia. This contract has a value of €112 million (469 million PLN).

With the objective to comply with the standards of the Trans-European transport network linking the north and south of Europe, this contract is one of the most important investments of PKP, the Polish railway lines operator. Once the new systems are in operation, trains will be able to run with speeds of up to 200 km/h through selected sections. The modernization will enhance safety and increase the capacity of the line. In addition, the journey times will be noticeably reduced.

Thales and Bombardier Transportation are responsible for the design and development of ETCS Level 2. They will also deliver conventional signalling for eight local control centres and upgrade existing conventional signalling equipment to the ETCS standard.

Thales will provide the ETCS Level 2 system, a remote control and traffic management, comprehensive solutions for dispatching centres in Warsaw and Gdynia, an integrated information system for travellers along the line and monitoring solutions.

Nokia Siemens Networks is providing the GSM-R systems on this highly complex 35-station line for passenger and freight traffic.

Pawel Piotrowski, Thales country director in Poland explains: “For Thales, this important project significantly strengthens our position on the Polish railway market. We have been involved in the Trans-European network since 2009, including the famous E30 European corridor.”