Alstom has won a twelve-year framework contract to develop and deploy NExTEO signalling on the RER B and D lines in the Île-de-France region.

The contract, worth almost 300 million euros, is to provide a new train automation, control and supervision system and was awarded to Alstom by Île-de-France Mobilités, SNCF Réseau, SNCF Voyageurs and RATP.

NExTEO is a new Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) which is part of a wider hat strategy to modernise and optimise the infrastructure of the two Express Lines. The aim of the strategy is to increase the reliability of train passages in the common tunnel between Gare du Nord and Châtelet-les-Halles stations as the number of passengers increases.

Alstom, which is also supplying new trains to the lines, promises that NExTEO signalling technology will help to ensure high standards of performance in the central Paris area, which is densely populated, while also managing the less densely populated areas on the RER B and RER D lines’ suburban branches in the Île-de-France region. It is able to simutaneously apply the operating and interoperability rules on the SNCF national railway network and the extensive RATP urban network, particularly on the RER B line to the south.

Alstom claims to be the world leader in the CBTC market, having provided high-performance urban signalling systems in service on 145 lines worldwide. Alstom technology is already being used in European cities including Madrid, Milan, Lyon, Lausanne, Paris and Amsterdam, and is being installed in several others.

Alstom has developed and deployed the new Urbalis solution on the RER B and D lines using the railway signalling expertise of more than 2,200 workers at three of its French sites :

• Saint-Ouen and Aix-en-Provence, for system specifications, development of the solution, integration of the signalling system and its deployment on the Ile-de-France network, as well as technical expertise support;
• Villeurbanne for on-board CBTC equipment and trackside signalling products, as well as network, cybersecurity and remote maintenance systems.

Jean-Baptiste Eyméoud, President of Alstom France, said, “I am delighted with this new order, which demonstrates the confidence of our long-standing partners in the products developed by Alstom to improve the performance and throughput of RER lines B and D in response to the increase in passenger traffic. With this new contract, Alstom will equip a total of 350 trains and 100 kilometres of these 2 RER lines, which are among the busiest in the Île-de-France region.”