Alstom Presents Latest Signalling Technologies on the Danish Railway Network

Alstom and Banedanmark, the Danish railway infrastructure owner, presented today to His Majesty the King of the Belgians and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Denmark the latest development of signalling in Denmark on the occasion of the King of the Belgians State Visit in the country.

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Alstom is currently replacing the existing signalling system in the Eastern part of Denmark with Atlas, its ERTMS solution. This railway network consists of more than 734 km of double track lines and 90 stations. Last summer, Alstom and Banedanmark, successfully tested an ETCS level 2 baseline 3 application, the newest ERTMS baseline, for the first time ever worldwide. Atlas solution for Banedanmark is developed by Alstom teams in Charleroi– the company’s worldwide centre of excellence for ERTMS, and implemented with the support of Alstom teams in Copenhagen and Bologna (Italy). The visit to this project of the King of the Belgians is a tribute to the know-how and expertise of Alstom’s specialists in Charleroi.

The presentation took place in Copenhagen’s Traffic Control Centre equipped with Alstom’s traffic management system. The visit, focused on the Danish national signalling programme and on the benefits of the ERTMS deployement, was supported by live demonstration on screens and driving simulators.

”Alstom has taken the initiative for today’s visit. Alstom has also invested in the project with the decision to use the Danish ERTMS-programme to showcase expertise in ERTMS implementation. I have taken note of these initiatives. And I take it as a strong signal of Alstom’s commitment to the project, with the clear determination to make every effort possible to ensure the successful completion of the programme by 2023,” says Ole Birk Olesen Minister for Transport, Building and Housing.

“We are highly honoured by the visit of the King of the Belgians and the Crown Prince of Denmark to our project for Banedanmark. Alstom is one of the global leaders in rail signalling, with nearly three quarters of onboard ERTMS equipment in service and more than 18,000 km contracted. Our Belgian teams in Charleroi have developped 50 years of expertise in train protection solutions”, said Marcel Miller, Managing Director for Alstom in Benelux.

The latest evolutions of Atlas are able to adapt to different traffic requirements, covering networks that operate between 6 and 600 trains per day with a mix combination of freight, regional, suburban or even high speed trains. This results in enhanced operating flexibility for the conventional lines, increasing the capacity of the line while reducing the electrical and signalling equipment along the track. Atlas is interoperable across European rail corridors. In addition, advanced control centres as the one of Banedanmark in Copenhagen allow better monitoring of train traffic and better management of disturbances.

Charleroi site in Belgium is in charge of the full project chain, from development to industrial process and complete tests in laboratory before installation on-site. With over 500 engineers and technicians and more than 135 successful projects in 30 countries, Alstom in Charleroi has a dynamic R&D strategy and benefits from the R&D support of the Walloon region.