Sydney Light Rail control room integration will use TETRA

GMV, a technological business group, is integrating systems for Sydney Light Rail - an on-going transport project by the New South Wales Government in Australia to develop a new 12 kilometre line

tramway_sidney.jpgGMV, a technological business group, is integrating systems for Sydney Light Rail – an on-going transport project by the New South Wales Government in Australia to develop a new 12 kilometre line. Antonio Hernandez, deputy general manager GMV Transport and Mobility, confirmed that TETRA technology will be used. It will be included with Wi-Fi for communications to the control room, fleet-management and in-tram communications.

The 35-month project will see GMV ensure that the transport network and its control centre runs efficiently once operational through its in-house railway and tram fleet-management system SAE-R. This integrates the control center – which uses SCADA and TETRA – with Transport for New South Wales, the local transport consortium, to make effective use of its planning and analysis tools. The relay of information will include data on passengers and the status of the tram cars.

Trams will also be fitted with on-board units for tolling and touchscreens in both cabs for driver interaction. A control centre will comprise of a set of servers in a virtualized environment and a series of workstations that will allow Transdev, the line operator, to ensure smooth service operation. Stations will be fitted with LED information panels to inform waiting passengers of arrival times and service information.

GMV has been chosen by Alstom, which develops, constructs, markets and provides systems, components and customer support to the world's infrastructure markets, and together the two companies will test and run a pilot scheme of the system. This will happen at GMV's factories and Alstom’s tramway factory in La Rochelle, France, and Barcelona. Trials will be carried out over several phases until a final operational test is conducted in Sydney. 

The tram line will be built by the ALTRAC consortium, made up of Alstom, Transdev, Acciona and Capella. Alstom is responsible for the integrated tramway system, which includes the design, delivery and commissioning of 30 coupled Citadis X05 trams, power supply equipment, including ground power supply over two kilometres, signalling systems, the energy recovery system HESOP, depot equipment and maintenance.

TETRA Today requested more details from GMV, but these could not be provided at this time.