Alstom, which leads the Expolink consortium, appointed by Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority to extend and upgrade the Dubai metro’s Red Line to the Expo 2020 site, has selected Thales to provide the driverless train signalling technology and other vital systems.
The RTA awarded the $2.8bn main contract to the Alstom-led consortium Expolink, which also includes Spain’s Acciona and Turkey’s Gulermak, to design and build an extension for the Red Line and upgrade the system of the existing line in June 2016.
Known as Route 2020, the 15 km extension will include seven stations and is currently under construction to connect the existing network with the Expo 2020 site.
It is due to enter into service in May 2020, five months before the start of the event.
Thales will now provide the driverless train signalling technology, as well as integrated supervision, communications, passenger services, security and fare collection systems.
These systems are designed to optimise energy consumption, smooth passenger flows and improve IT connectivity.
Thales’ ground transportation solutions have been in service on the Dubai metro for the last seven years, with all the same systems that they will now be installing and upgrading across the metro line.
Thales has now been selected again to improve urban mobility, provide the latest enhancements to the solutions already in service and equip the 50 five-car driverless trains being provided by Alstom as part of the Expolink consortium.
The Red Line was the longest metro lines in the world, at 52km, when it opened in 2009, and its passenger numbers have been increasing ever since.
One of the challenges will be to complete the project without disruption to the metro’s 20-hour-a-day operation on the existing line.
Thales is a global technology leader for the transport, aerospace, defence and security, employing 64,000 employees in 56 countries and drawing revenues of $15.9bn in 2016.
With over 25,000 engineers and researchers, the company has the capability to design and deploy equipment, systems and services to meet the most complex security requirements.
For more information on the specifics of the Route 2020 expansion to the Dubai Metro, see:Â Alstom consortium wins Dubai Metro extension deal
