OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
Bombardier CBTC to ease congestion in Melbourne Rail Express spoke with Bombardier Transportation’s Head of Rail Control Systems for Asia Pacific, Gregory Enjalbert, about the cutting-edge signalling technology the company is providing for the biggest public transport project in Victorian history.
T
HE PRINCIPAL BENEFIT OF THE $11 billion Metro Tunnel currently under construction beneath Melbourne’s bustling CBD is to create capacity on the network by removing three lines out of the congested City Loop. To achieve this, the Metro Tunnel project will create a new end-to-end rail line from Sunbury in the west to Cranbourne and Pakenham in the south-east. The project scope includes twin nine-kilometre rail tunnels, five new underground stations and highcapacity signalling. To maximise the efficiencies of this new route, an advanced communications-based train control (CBTC) system will be installed on the line and in
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ISSUE 2 2019 | RAIL EXPRESS
the new tunnel. The high-capacity system will enable trains to safely run closer together and enable more than half a million additional passengers a week across Melbourne’s train network to use the rail system during peak periods. In December 2017, the Victorian Government selected a team of Bombardier Transportation, CPB Contractors and Metro Trains Melbourne (current rail operator) to partner in an Alliance with Rail Projects Victoria ¬– forming the Rail Systems Alliance (RSA). The Alliance will deliver a signalling and rail control solution and system integration for the Metro Tunnel Project, under a $1.1 billion
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