PRASA places largest ever signaling contract with Siemens

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has commissioned Siemens with the delivery of signaling equipment and the construction of the Gauteng Nerve Center operations control center. The €90 million (US$128.6 million) contract is the largest contract for signaling equipment ever awarded in South Africa. The contract includes 15 type Sicas S7 electronic interlockings for the railway network in the province of Gauteng. It also comprises the interlocking for Johannesburg Park Station. In addition, more than 800 counting heads and more than 380 switch machines will be installed. The communication network will also be upgraded to meet the signaling requirements. The project is due to be completed by 2016. The South African railway network is the largest in Africa and the tenth largest in the world. Its routes can now be set and monitored electronically. The new operations control center will control a total of 70 interlockings in the Johannesburg area. The interlockings and the GNC will communicate through an optical fiber network, which Siemens delivered in 2010. The new train protection system will increase the operational capacity, provide a higher level of flexibility and safety and reduce train delays.