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New trains and automatic train control system ordered for Sofia Metro Line 3

Posted: 29 March 2016 | Katie Sadler, Digital Content Producer, Intelligent Transport | No comments yet

A Siemens led consortium has supplied Sofia Metro line 3 with 20 Inspiro trains and a new automatic train control system.

Sofia Metro

A Siemens led consortium will supply Sofia Metro line 3 with 20 Inspiro trains and a new automatic train control system.

Sofia Metro

A consortium, consisting of Siemens and Polish train manufacturer Newag, has signed an agreement with Metropolitan EAD, the Bulgarian metro operator of Sofia, to supply 20 Inspiro type metro trains and a Trainguard MT automatic train protection system for the city’s new Metro line 3. The contract worth approximately €140 million will see Siemens install the wireless CBTC technology (communications-based train control) to achieve automatic operation. An option for ten more trains and the related automation system is also included within contract.

Sofia Metro line 3 contract worth €140 million

Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Mobility Division, said: “Sofia marks another European capital that has decided in favour of mass transit vehicles and train automation equipment from Siemens. The inner-city transportation services in particular have to cater to ever-increasing demand. For this purpose, we have developed a rolling stock and trackside equipment that combine high transport capacities with low operating costs.”

“We have developed a rolling stock and trackside equipment that combine high transport capacities with low operating costs”

In order to address demand, Sofia’s new third line will create an east-west link that will run 18 kilometres mostly under the city and also at ground level outside the central parts and will serve 18 stations. The financing of the project is ensured at 70 percent by the European Union (EU) under the Operational Program “Transport and Transport Infrastructure” and 30 percent are locally co-financed. The line is due to enter operation in 2019.

This order now relates the first phase of the construction project for the first eight kilometres with eight new stations. The scope of supply of the consortium comprises the automatic, CBTC-based train control system (onboard and wayside), the Trackguard interlocking, the automatic train supervision system Controlguide OCS, the voice radio and data transmission system, the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Scada) system, the wayside digital communication network, and half-height platform screen doors for the stations.

When completed, the metro system with its three lines will form a triangle underneath the center of Sofia so that passengers will only have to change once to get to a station on one of the other lines.

The Inspiro car bodies will be produced at Siemens’ plant in Vienna, Austria, while the bogies will come from the Siemens’ plant in Graz. Final assembly, factory train testing, and static commissioning of the trains will take place at Newag’s plant in Nowy Sacz, Poland.

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