Alstom to establish a Center of Excellence
for railway signalling solutions in Denmark
On April 7th, Alstom Transport announced the establishment of a Center of Excellence dedicated to railway signalling in Denmark. It will carry out the maintenance of the company’s railways signalling systems and develop signalling solutions to be exported to other Nordic and European countries. Northern Europe represents a potential signalling market of €3,2 billion, which thereby is 24% of the worldwide potential market for 2016.
The new Center of Excellence is entrusted with three missions. It will contribute to fully industrialize the deployment process of any new signalling system to be implemented by Alstom in Denmark. It will also maintain it throughout its lifecycle. It will conduct research and development, being a hub for other Nordic countries and the rest of Europe.
“ There are more than 400 Alstom trains in operation every day in the Nordic countries, 170 of them in Denmark. The new Center of Excellence will further strengthen our presence, expanding it into the field of signalling. In Denmark we will bring and develop unique expertise and competencies, which will allow us to better serve our customers and make Nordic railways signalling solutions one of the most advance in the world ” said Lars Kleppe, Alstom Managing Director for Nordic countries.
The announcement was made during an ERTMS[1] event organized by Alstom in Køge harbor (Copenhagen), during which Alstom presented and testes its Atlas ERTMS signalling solution, the first working ERTMS level 2 in Denmark. Alstom’s commitment to the Danish market is part of the company’s development plans related to the signalling modernization project in Denmark launched by Banedanmark.
Alstom Center of Excellence will employ 30 people with various professional expertises. This team is already under built-up in Denmark. Other Nordic countries such as Norway and Sweden will upgrade their signalling systems; this will guarantee long-term full activity for the unit and its employees.
About Atlas, Alstom Transport’s ERTMS solution
Alstom Transport is the leader in the operational deployment of rail interoperability in Europe. Alstom holds a 63% market share in ERTMS Level 2-compatible onboard equipment contracts. Atlas has proven its worth on over 1,100 trains throughout more than 40 million km of commercial service. In Europe, over 8 out of 10 trains operating under ETCS Level 2 are using the Atlas solution. Alstom has carried out more than 30 ERTMS projects in nine European countries, including the Rome-Naples line in Italy, the first very high speed line equipped with an ERTMS Level 2 system; the Mattstetten-Rothrist line in Switzerland, used by the largest equipped fleet; and the Betuwe Route freight line in the Netherlands, which is part of Corridor C.
Moreover, over 1,300 train sets equipped with the Atlas solution will come into service over the next few years.
About Alstom Transport
Alstom Transport has been present in the Nordic countries since 1992. Today we operate out of 13 locations with some 100 people. A promoter of sustainable mobility, Alstom is the only manufacturer in the world to offer a complete range of high performance products: rolling stock, infrastructures, information systems, services and turnkey solutions. Mindful of operators´ ever more stringent profitability objectives and of their growing need for sustainable mobility solutions, we propose ecologically and economically efficient products and services to our customers. Alstom transport recorded sales of 5.8 billion euros in the fiscal year 2009-2010. Alstom Transport is present in 60 countries and employs some 26,000 people.
Press contacts:
Anna Lihr (Transport) - Tfn +46087236588 –
[1] ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) is a command and control system for trans-European rail networks.