Siemens Mobility has signed contracts worth €270 million with Banedanmark (BDK) of Denmark and Danish State Railways (DSB) to upgrade all 170 kilometres of Copenhagen’s S-bane network with the highest grade of automation (GoA4 technology) so that unattended trains can begin operations in 2030.

The contracts include onboard equipment for 226 new trains, upgrading onboard and lineside signalling equipment to enable the operation of more trains, a better passenger experience, maintaining the current punctuality rate, and future-proofing the network.

The new contracts follow an original contract signed in 2011 to equip the S-bane network with the Communications-Based Train Control System (CBTC).

Upgrading to CBTC GoA4 technology will take place in five phases with minimal disruption to train services.

The first phase is scheduled for 2030 on the F-Line between København Syd and Hellerup stations.

From then, a mix of existing GoA2 trains and new driverless GoA4 trains will operate until 2038, when all driverless GoA4 trains will be in service and supported by hybrid wayside technology capable of accommodating GoA2 and GoA4.

Included in the new contracts is the installation of radio-based communication systems in Hundige and Høje Taastrup depots.

In the UK, Siemens is taking a leading role in delivering digital signalling as part of the East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) and is investing £100 million in a new manufacturing facility in Wiltshire.

We are very proud to continue and enhance our successful collaboration with Banedanmark and DSB to position the thriving city of Copenhagen as a model for modern rail infrastructure among European capitals. By implementing our best-in-class signaling technology by 2033, trains will be capable of operating automatically and driverless. This will make the new S-bane the world’s largest automatic urban railway.

Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility

We are happy to conclude this contract for the CBTC GoA4 upgrade which is a very important element of our programme “Future S-bane”.

The Copenhagen S-bane is already today a well performing railway system serving the greater Copenhagen area and with implementation of the “Future S-bane” programme it will evolve into one of the world’s largest and most complex fully automated mass transit systems which will provide an even better service to our passengers.

This comes not only via higher frequency for increased capacity and improved train services during off-peak operations, but also faster recovery from disturbances and better possibilities to adapt the traffic services to the demand on short term. DSB looks forward to continuing the successful relationship with Siemens Mobility which has been developed over the last twelve years to make the Copenhagen S-Bane CBTC GoA4 upgrade as successful as the original CBTC deployment.”

Jürgen Müller, Director Strategy & Train Equipment at DSB

We are pleased about the prospect of Banedanmark and DSB continuing our work with Siemens to improve Copenhagen’s S-bane network. The CBTC system has already shown its merits and we hope that this project can lift the S-bane even further.

Peter Jonasson, Director of Construction at Banedanmark