Siemens Mobility has secured a couple of contracts worth around AUD190 million ($145 million) for upgrading and modernizing the Sydney rail network from the New South Wales (NSW) government, as announced in March 2021.

The proposed upgrade work is expected to enhance the overall efficiency and capacity of the rail network.

The scope of the contracts includes the introduction of a new traffic management system (TMS) and upgrading of the network conventional signaling of Sydney Trains to a digital ETCS-L2 train control system.

The NSW Government is undertaking a broader Digital Systems Program, under which legacy signaling and train control technologies will be replaced with modern intelligent systems.

The systems are scheduled to be available for operation in 2023.

Michael Peter – CEO of Siemens Mobility said: “Siemens Mobility is delighted to have been selected to deliver the services that will modernize and optimize the Sydney rail network. Our state-of-the-art traffic management and signaling technology will augment operations throughout the network by increasing service reliability and availability, which will enhance the passenger experience.

“This important project further underscores our leading position in the field for delivering automated signaling systems and expands our growing footprint in Australia.”

According to Siemens Mobility, the new traffic management system will be integrated with the new European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2 technology.

Due to the upgrades done under the Digital Systems Program, there will be an increase in the frequency as well as the reliability of services. Additionally, the number of trains operating will be increased to 24 during peak hours and up to 30 per hour for recovery from disruptions.

The other key component of the contract is the implementation of automatic train operation (ATO) technology that will help drivers, who will remain in control, to provide more frequent, reliable, and consistent train journeys.

Siemens Mobility said that the traffic management system solution will track the position of all trains continually. This will allow the train services to run as planned and in helping with responses to incidents.

The traffic management system will be operated from the Rail Operations Centre, and will work in tandem with other systems used by Sydney Trains for controlling operations of trains.

  Australia, Michael Peter, New South Wales, Siemens Mobility, Sydney, Sydney Trains