Brazil: Thales awarded Manaus monorail CBTC signalling contract

09 November 2012

Located in the heart of the Amazon, the Manaus metro will be equipped with Thales’s driverless solution


São Paulo, November 9, 2012 - Thales has won its second signalling CBTC (Communications-Based Train Control) project in Brazil in less than a year for the Manaus monorail. The signalling contract was awarded to Thales by the Monotrilho Manaus Consortium, formed by CR Almeida, Mendes Junior, Serveng-Civilsan e Scomi.
In the capital city of Amazonas, the 20 km monorail will be a fully automated driverless system using Thales’ world-leading SelTrac CBTC. Implementation will be done in two phases with partial completion planned for the FIFA World Cup in 2014.

“After Sao Paulo line 17, this is Thales’ second CBTC project in Brazil and we are delighted to experience this success in such a short time,” said Julien Rousselet, Thales Brazil Country Director. “Brazil is determined to use the best technology in the world to improve the mobility of its citizens and we are pleased that our SelTrac CBTC driverless system has again been selected.”

The SelTrac CBTC system will be supplied by Thales’s center-of-competence in Toronto, Canada, which pioneered the revolutionary technology 25 years ago, along with Thales’s fully-owned Brazilian subsidiary Omnisys. This organisation demonstrates Thales’s dedication to strengthening its local presence and capability in transportation in Brazil.

Thales’s CBTC technology has evolved over time and operators continue to benefit from low operating and maintenance costs, optimal life cycle costs and proven driverless technology while passengers get smoother travel. To date, Thales has applied CBTC signalling to 54 projects in 31 cities worldwide, moving 3 billion passengers per year.