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Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System: With the country’s premier semi-high speed rapid rail coming up between Delhi and Meerut, India is all set to adopt the European Train Control System (ETCS) for mainline railways for the very first time. Recently, multinational rolling stock manufacturer Alstom won a contract worth €106 million to design, supply, and install the train control, signalling, and telecommunication system for the 82 km-long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut regional rapid transit system (RRTS) corridor. The country’s first regional rapid rail corridor will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Meerut to just 55 minutes. (Also Read:Delhi-Meerut RRTS: Alstom Wins Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail’s Contract For Signalling, Telecommunications )

Alstom’s scope of work includes design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of Signalling & Train Control, Supervision, Platform Screen Doors and Telecommunication Systems for the corridor. This line will be the first in India to adopt the European Train Control System (ETCS) hybrid Level 32 signalling system, which is the core signalling and train control component of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).

ETCS signalling system will not only facilitate interoperability but will also ensure train movement at quick frequencies, thus reducing the waiting time for passengers. The contract marks a world premiere for the combination of the latest ETCS standard supported by the latest digital Interlocking and Automatic Train Operation (ATO) over Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio. The integrated platform screen door solution will also provide utmost safety to passengers.

ETCS hybrid Level 3 optimises line capacity in complete safety by anticipating and adapting the speed of the trains through continuous train control and supervision via a radio-based signalling system. It is arguably the most efficient train control system in the world, bringing significant advantages combined with automatic train operation (ATO) in terms of maintenance cost and energy savings, safety, reliability, punctuality and traffic capacity. ETCS is a replacement for the legacy train protection systems and is designed to replace the many incompatible safety systems currently in operation, making it the train control system of choice for India, as well as, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Alstom’s Atlas ERTMS Level 2 and hybrid Level 3 are digital signalling solutions that allows trains to run at higher speeds without physical lineside signals. The company is a major supplier of onboard and trackside ETCS equipment via this solution, representing 70% of the world’s onboard rail systems in service and 18,000 kilometres of tracks worldwide. In total, Alstom has been contracted to equip 9,000 trains with Atlas onboard solutions, of which 1,100 vehicles will be equipped with the Baseline 3 Release 2 solution. Today, across 30 countries, Alstom has provided significant performance improvement for all ETCS standards, including the very first application of ETCS Level 3 in Germany.