FRANCE: A 50:50 consortium of Colas Rail and Eiffage Énergie Systèmes has been awarded a €26m contract to provide traction power supply equipment for the 35 km Grand Paris Express automated metro Line 18 between Orly Airport and Versailles-Chantiers station.
This will include 15 rectification substations, seven switching substations, two traction control installations and 140 km of traction cabling to supply power to trains via a third rail.
Initial works are to start by mid-2023 and will be undertaken in three stages between 2023 and 2027 to allow phased commissioning by 2030.
The contract has a requirement to promote access to employment, and at least 10% of working time will be reserved for people facing exclusion from employment. A minimum 20% of the works and systems budget will be allocated to SMEs.
‘Securing this contract consolidates our presence in the Grand Paris infrastructure systems market’, said Olivier Miens, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Eiffage Énergie Systèmes, on August 25. ‘Our teams are fully mobilised alongside our partner, Colas Rail, working as an integrated unit to meet the challenges of commissioning Line 18.’
