Alstom and its Chinese joint venture CASCO Signalling Co. Ltd. as a Consortium has been awarded a contract by Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company to supply and improve the Incremental Train Control System (ITCS) signalling solution on the section Gelmod to Lhasa of Qinghai-Tibet regional line - which is 1,956 kilometers long - by the end of August 2018. The contract which is worth over €15 million is the first ITCS contract for Alstom since the integration of GE signalling since November 2015.
Golmud to Lhasa section is 1,145 km long and includes 45 stations on which passenger regional and freight trains circulate. In order to increase the capacity of the line, Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company has obtained approval to add 13 new stations by the end of 2016, and revamp and/or relocate 18 existing stations by the end of 2017. With the line being modified, there was a need to improve the existing signalling system supplied by former GE Signalling for which the revenue service started in 2006 and implement it on all the stations. This project will allow for more people to take the trains and optimize the transport capacity and availability of the line while enhancing the local economy.
“This contract is a breakthrough for Alstom after the successful integration of GE signalling. With an enhanced signaling solution portfolio addressing urban, regional and mainline, and through our strategic local partner CASCO, we are China preferred partner to support its railway projects throughout the country” said Ling Fang, managing director of China and East Asia for Alstom.
CASCO Signal Ltd. is Alstom’s first joint venture in Chinese rail market established together with China Railway Signal & Communication Corporation in 1986. It has become the major supplier of signalling systems and services for metros in China in the recent decades, supplying CBTC signalling solutions for more than 40 metro lines in 18 cities. At the same time, it has provided control centres for more than 70 passenger-dedicated lines, including Beijing-Shanghai Express Railway and Guangzhou - Zhuhai Intercity Railway.
