PRAGUE city council resolved on January 22 to proceed with a Koruna 86bn ($US 3.77bn) project to install automatic train operation (ATO) on lines C and D of the metro network in the Czech capital.<\/p>\n
Installing ATO will enable driverless operation to be introduced on Line C, currently the busiest on the Prague network. Public transport operator DPP expects a 20% increase in capacity by shortening headways from 115 seconds to 90 seconds through automation and the introduction of CBTC moving-block signalling.<\/p>\n
DPP has also calculated that installing ATO on Line C will save around Koruna 770m a year in operating costs, including staff costs. This also helps to make the financial case for installation on Line D, which has been designed for ATO.<\/p>\n
Line D will run from N\u00e1m\u011b\u0161t\u00ed M\u00edru and Depo P\u00edsnice, and work is now underway to build the first section between Pankr\u00e1c and Olbrachtova.<\/p>\n
\u201cI strongly believe that this year we will be able to start the second as well,\u201d says Mr Zden\u011bk H\u0159ib, first deputy major of Prague.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether, they form the shortest operable section from Pankr\u00e1c to Nov\u00e9 Dvory with five stations,\u201d he says. Installing and commissioning ATO on this initial section of Line D is expected to cost Koruna 480m, and as H\u0159ib points out, will require the timely delivery of new trains and other equipment.<\/p>\n
The metro automation project will include the installation of platform screen doors, the supply of new fleet maintenance equipment and the construction of a new control centre for lines C and D.<\/p>\n
DPP intends to order 69 new metro trains for driverless operation. The first section of Line D will require 10 trains, rising to 16 when Line D is completed in full. Line C will require 53 driverless trains.<\/p>\n
Procurement for the ATO project is expected to include a 35-year maintenance contract covering the new trains and other equipment.<\/p>\n
DPP undertook preliminary market consultation in 2020-21 which concluded that combining the Line D project and automation of Line C would generate greater benefits. These include a lower price per train through economies of scale and greater interest from major suppliers in a larger potential order.<\/p>\n
Smaller, separate orders would not generate a satisfactory response from the market, DPP feels. The operator is looking to conduct an open tendering process based on competitive dialogue which it hopes will attract major global suppliers.<\/p>\n
This was the approach followed by DPP in its tender for 200 low-floor LRVs which attracted bids from Stadler and \u0160koda Group. The latter was named as preferred bidder for a framework contract<\/a> worth Koruna 16.6bn in November 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cWe assume that the competitive dialogue will last approximately two years, and we should know the winner in the end of 2025,\u201d says DPP director general, Mr Petr Witowski.<\/p>\n \u201cThe development of the cars themselves will follow in 2026 and 2027,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe production of the first cars, their certification and authorisation should then take place in 2027-28, followed by trial operations in 2028 and 2029. Only then it will be possible to start series production.\u201d<\/p>\n On Line C, the new driverless trains will replace the 53 five-car type M1 trains supplied by Siemens and Adtranz (later Bombardier, now Alstom) in 2000-03, releasing them for redeployment elsewhere.<\/p>\n DPP says that the type 81-71 M trains currently operating on lines A and B are reaching the end of their working life, with the full-service fleet maintenance contract and all its extension options expiring in 2040. This also the date for installing ATO on Line A as the last line to be converted under DPP\u2019s automation programme.<\/p>\n For detailed data on metro projects around the world, subscribe to\u00a0<\/em>IRJ Pro<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Prague to automate metro lines C and D<\/a> appeared first on International Railway Journal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PRAGUE city council resolved on January 22 to proceed with a Koruna 86bn ($US 3.77bn) project to install automatic train operation (ATO) on lines C […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rail-news","category-transport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t