Siemens awarded major regional infrastructure contract

The Rail Infrastructure business unit of Siemens Mobility has won the contract for delivery of the fixed telecoms infrastructure associated with the Newport Area Signalling Renewal project, part of the wider £400m South Wales resignalling scheme.

Siemens will deliver the communications infrastructure at both the lineside and in the new state of the art South Wales Control Centre (SWCC) in Cardiff. The new control centre will ultimately handle all signalling and operational control in south and central Wales. In the initial phase, due for completion at the end of 2010, five signalling areas will be placed under central control, together with integration of the critical Severn Tunnel crossing control area. During later phases of the South Wales project, scheduled for completion by 2015, a further 18 signalling areas will be brought under the control of the SWCC.

To support the necessary communications requirements of the project, Siemens will deliver two separate telephone switches, one a business class PABX for operational communications, the other a Siemens HiPath railway concentrator handling safety critical lineside communications.

Trackside, Siemens will install over 50km of copper cabling, more than 200 lineside telephones, and 50 equipment cabinets. In addition, Siemens will re-site existing equipment from 12 existing relay rooms which will be demolished.

The contract awarded is the largest to date under the five year telecoms framework agreement between Siemens and Network Rail.

Siemens has an impressive track record in completing telecoms works in all the Network Rail territories and has successfully delivered many similar high profile telecoms projects throughout the UK rail network. 

Joern Schlichting, general manager, Signalling and Telecoms, said:  "This contract cements the reputation Siemens has with fixed telecoms in South Wales and underlines the quality of the Siemens telecommunications systems on the railway."

ENDS

Notes to editors:
With headquarters in York, the Fixed Telecoms business unit is part of the Rail Infrastructure arm of Siemens Mobility. With capabilities in Mobile Communications, Control and Information Systems, Electrification and Signalling, Siemens offers complete infrastructure solutions to the rail transport industry.

About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 166 years ago and now employs 18,402 people in the UK. Last year's revenues were £3.7 billion. As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world's major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company's global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk

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