MERMEC Group signs contracts for ERTMS/ETCS Signalling on Thénia – Tizi Ouzou line in Algeria
MERMEC Group has been awarded a project from Spanish company ENYSE to supply advanced European Train Control System (ERTMS/ETCS Level 1) to the Agence Nationale d’Études et de Suivi de la Réalisation des Investissements Ferroviaires (ANESRIF) for the 55 km Thénia – Tizi Ouzou line.
Algeria – The signalling and TLC supplier ENYSE, part of the SICE Group and member of the consortium that won the track improvement operations between Thénia and Tizi Ouzou in Algeria, has awarded MERMEC with a contract to provide ERTMS/ETCS Level 1 technology for the 55 km line that will get Tizi-Ouzou (105 km east of Algiers) closer to the Algerian capital.
“The installation of the ERTMS/ETCS Level 1 on the Tizi-Ouzou single rail track to Thénia (Boumerdes) is another important step forward in the MERMEC Group plan for signalling business internationalization,” said Mohanna Mouffak, MERMEC Group Signalling Business Unit Director. “Increased market awareness and perception of our capabilities, high-quality products and cost-effective solutions are definitively gaining momentum in all the key markets that we are following. The contract we are announcing today is a sign that we are performing very well and that we are extremely competitive.”
MERMEC will fit the new line with its European ERTMS/ETCS level 1 wayside sub-system (branded iCAB 1 Series) and it is scheduled to start supply of the first set of LEUs by the end of 2012.
The supply awarded to MERMEC is part of a bigger modernization project managed by a consortium of companies TEIXEIRA DUARTE, ETRHB-HADDAD, ÖZGÜN İNŞAAT et ENYSE. The purpose of the project is to obtain transportation that can travel 160 km/h speed between Algeria-Ouzou by means of electrification and modernization of the line (total 65 minutes, 28 minutes between Thénia and Tizi Ouzou). By extending the line, which provides quick and nonstop service to the developing industrial area of Oued Aissi between Algeria, Tizi Ouzou will be beneficial for covering the needs of the region.
Earthwork, drainage structures and drainage network, construction works, station buildings, rail supply and furnishing, signalling and telecommunication, electrification of the line are works made within the scope of this project. With the completion of these works, the journey between Algiers and Tizi-Ouzou will be not only faster – covered in less than 60 minutes at an average speed of 160 km/h – but it will be safer, thanks to European signalling standard selected for the line.
