Swiss railway operator SBB chooses Nexans cables for infrastructure upgrade

Swiss rail network operator SBB has signed a five-year framework agreement with Nexans for the supply of signalling and balise cables, as it prepares significant upgrades to cabling infrastructure across its rail network. The agreement is worth €35 million in total.

As part of the agreement Nexans will provide over 7,000km of specialised rail cables used to power signalling and balise (electronic beacon and transponder) applications. The deal is a continuation of the long working relationship between the two companies, which started over 100 years ago when Nexans provided cable for the Simplon rail tunnel that connects Switzerland and Italy through the Alps.

Francis Krähenbühl, CEO Nexans Switzerland, commented, “After a successful 2013 in which Nexans fulfilled several large orders for SBB, we are pleased to announce this new framework agreement between the two companies. It is a reaffirmation of the long and fruitful working relationship between SBB and Nexans and we look forward to contributing to the network upgrade together with SBB.”

The cables will be delivered over a five-year period starting from October 2014, and will be manufactured in Nexans’ cable plants in Breitenbach and Cortaillod, Switzerland.