THALES has reported the completion of work at three major stations under resignalling contracts awarded by Egyptian National Railways (ENR).
New signalling has been installed at Tanta, on the Cairo - Alexandria route, and at Sedfa and Al Ousayrat on the line between Asyut and Nagh Hammadi.
Tanta is one of the largest stations in Egypt, controlling an 18km section of the ENR network. Resignalling work has included the provision of one main technical building and one secondary technical building, as well as the installation of 132 new signals, 124 point motors and 267 track circuits. Eight level crossings formed part of scheme.
At Al Ousayrat, which controls 10km, Thales provided a new technical building and modernised three level crossings. Work at Sedfa, controlling 11km, included the installation of 44 new signals, 74 track circuits and a technical building. Two level crossings were upgraded.
ENR awarded Thales the contract to resignal the Alexandra - Cairo route in 2013, and with the delivery of Tanta station a continuous 195km section of the line has now been resignalled. Only the areas controlled from Alexandria in the north, and from Farz Waborat and Cairo North in the south, remain to be upgraded, a total of 12km.
Replacing mechanical signalling with electronic interlockings should result in a 40% capacity increase on the key Alexandra - Cairo route, enabling the maximum operating speed to be raised from 140km/h to 160km/h.
Modernising ENR’s signalling and telecommunications systems should also increase availability and reliability, while reduced maintenance needs should contribute to lower lifecycle costs.
