Alstom completes interlocking project in Turkey

Alstom has finished the interlocking project on the Eskisehir-Kutahya-Balikesir line, covering 328km of main line railway for the Turkish State Railways Administration (TCDD).

The interlocking system has been put into service in eight sections.

For the first five sections, covering more than 182km and including the telecommunications and traffic control centre (CTC), the interlocking system was finished and commissioned on 5 December 2020.

On 5 February, the services commenced on the remaining three sections, covering around 146km.

Alstom Middle East and Turkey managing director Mama Sougoufara said: “We are proud to see the fruition of our work on the Eskisehir-Kutahya-Balikesir railway line. We highly value our partnership with the Turkish State Railways Administration and fully support their efforts to elevate the high safety technologies with the introduction of our automatic train supervision solution and implementation of EU standards to this signalling system through our European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS).

“We are a committed long-term partner to Turkey, addressing its mobility needs and supporting the upcoming transport projects.”

Alstom has been serving Turkey for more than 60 years and supplied rail vehicles, turnkey transit systems for metros and trams, as well as signalling and train control technology to the country.

Last week, Alstom successfully deployed and commissioned its SIL 4 signalling Electronic Interlocking SYSTEM (IXL solution-SmartLock 400 GP) on the Deirut section of the Beni Suef Assuyt railway track in Egypt.

The French rolling stock manufacturing company also installed a support system and SCADA that oversees and controls different subsystems, based on Alstom’s ICONIS, TLC system and an 11kV power supply substation.

The Deirut section passes through the Abu Qurqas, El Roda and Mallawi stations, which are already in service.