ATLANTA — The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit System has awarded Stadler Rail a $500 million contract to replace its current signal system with a communications-based train control system.
MARTA’s board voted Thursday (Dec. 5) to award the contract to Stadler, which is also building new railcars for the transit agency under a $646 million contract awarded in 2019 [see “Stadler, MARTA sign $600 million deal …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 15, 2019].
The order for Stadler’s NOVA Pro system is the company’s largest signaling order to date, as well as the first time a U.S. operator will use a Stadler control system with Stadler equipment. The company will install the necessary hardware on the new trainsets as they are built at the Stadler US plant in Salt Lake City, making for “seamless integration,” Stadler says.
“This order is a significant milestone and represents an international market breakthrough for us in the CBTC sector, Markus Bernsteiner, group CEO, Stadler Rail, said in a press release. “MARTA and its passengers can look forward to a state-of-the-art train control system that will make Metro operations more punctual, safer and more efficient. We look forward to working with MARTA, thank them for the trust they have placed in us and for now relying on our train control solution in addition to their trains.”
Communications-based train control uses wireless communication, either 5G cellular or wi-fi, to provide precise real-time train information on train locations.
Signaling systems are mostly software now. Commercial software development and integration is unfortunately expensive, but can generate a large amount of repetitive economies.
Here’s a surprise…I’m confused by the math! $600 million for 127 trainsets and $500 million for a signal system. Please advise.
Inflation, technical electronics using rare materials,