Thales strengthens its position in Turkey with a new signalling and telecommunications systems contract

Key points

  • Thales to provide signalling, safety, control and telecommunications solutions to Eskisehir station.
  • This station is one of the most important on the Ankara-Istanbul line.
  • Thales was the first purveyor of ETCS systems in Turkey.

Thales has signed a new contract with Turkish State Railways (TCDD), valued at €10 million, for the renovation of the signalling and telecommunication systems of Eskisehir station.

Thales will improve the various systems installed in the station by deploying its ETCS Level 1 signalling technology, which already equips part of the Ankara-Istanbul line. Several bespoke modifications will be made on the existing interlocking and Centralised Train Control systems. This project will take one year to complete.

Eskisehir is one of the key stations on the Ankara-Istanbul line, which connects Turkey’s two most important cities, serving 17 million people. The first phase of this line now operates at high-speed; an upgrade that increased rail traffic and led TCDD to decide to improve the capacity of Eskisehir station.

With this contract, Thales confirms its commitment to the development of the railway market in Turkey, where it has maintained a subsidiary company since 2009, with more than 50 local professionals who are experts in signalling.

“The railway signalling sector is a priority market for Thales; one where we bring the expertise and knowledge of more than 60 years of activity in the railway sector to the table. Our on-going collaboration with Turkish State Railways is testament to our continued commitment to the development of the railway network in this country.”

Ali Serdar Baran, Country Director of Thales in Turkey.

Thales is one of the main players in the development of the Turkish high-speed network and has installed its signalling and telecommunications solutions on more than 400 kilometres of the Ankara-Istanbul line. The Group was the first supplier of ETCS systems in Turkey.

 

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