GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB Netz has selected seven manufacturers to install and commission digital interlockings as part of its Digitale Schiene Deutschland strategy.
These are first contracts to be awarded under the so-called fast-track programme agreed between federal government, DB and the railway industry association VDB in 2020, which is intended to see all signal boxes digitalised by 2035.
Alstom, Hitachi, InoSig, Pintsch, Scheidt & Bachmann, Siemens Mobility and Thales Deutschland have been selected to supply interlockings for the Kleve - Kempen, Finnentrop, Ansbach – Triesdorf, Wörth (Rhein)/Germersheim – Speyer, Zwieseler Spinne, Gera – Weischlitz and Lichtenfels – Coburg – Sonneberg routes.
Siemens Mobility has been awarded the Finnentrop interlocking, which controls around 60 route-km in Nordrhein-Westfalen. This will see the replacement of 404 signalling equivalent units, including signals, switch points and derailers. The project will see 15 level crossings equipped with digital interfaces and four with new safety systems.
Siemens Mobility will be responsible for the entire value chain from planning to completion, which it said would enable rapid implementation by the end of 2021. Northeast Europe region CEO Gerhard Greiter said ‘the new digital interlocking will reduce disruptions in operations and provide the basis for rail automation and improved rail mobility. Passengers, freight, and the environment will benefit from this upgrade.’
