Eesti Raudtee’s goals in this
modernization project is to achieve optimal, reliable, safe, and low-cost
lifecycle railway infrastructure. Another objective is to be prepared for the future
and be compliant with the EU directives and standards. The new CCS system will improve the
safety of the railways and will enable the introduction of the ERTMS in the
future. By modernizing
its infrastructure, Eesti Raudtee will be contributing to the green goals of
European transport policy, which is to divert 30% of road transport to rail and
waterway by 2030 and 50% by 2050.
“The vision of Estonian
Railways Ltd is to be one of the region’s most advanced railway infrastructure
managers. Continuous investing into development and maintenance of the
infrastructure, like our newest contract with Siemens Mobility – GRK Rail
Consortium, ensures conditions for high-quality, efficient and safe rail
traffic in both cargo and passenger transport and also contributes to the
country's regional development”, says the Chairman of the Management Board Erik
Laidvee from Eesti Raudtee.
The CCS contract, with a total
cost of little over € 115 million, has been signed for 25 years and includes
the deployment of certified CCS systems that meet railway safety requirements,
spare parts needed throughout the contract period and 5 years of support and
maintenance services. To this amount various system changes, support and
maintenance services will be added according to the needs of Eesti Raudtee. “Through
long-term cooperation, we ensure that new CCS systems are monitored through
regular inspections, the railway team has acquired new competencies, optimal availability
of harmonized spare parts is ensured, preventive maintenance is planned and
carried out, and rapid fault response is ensured to ensure safety and system
continuity. The work will create the preconditions for remote traffic control,
and within the framework of the agreement, integration with the new central traffic
management system will also be carried out”,
added Laidvee.
Siemens Mobility’s and GRK
Rail’s joint delivery include engineering, delivery, installation and testing
of the new signalling system. Siemens Mobility is responsible for the system
delivery and overall project management and GRK Rail is responsible for all
installations and site management.
“Siemens Mobility has strong expertise as a leader in the digitalization
of rail transport. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make trains and
infrastructure intelligent. It’s great to be part in creating smoother and
safer use of railways,” says Siemens Mobility Oy CEO Juha Lehtonen.
“GRK Rail Oy is a
full-service railway technology supplier and is part of Finnish infra
construction company GRK group. GRK Rail has strong expertise in construction
of railway technical systems and wants to share it with customer for this
demanding project. The project is very suitable to GRK group’s growth strategy
in the Baltic countries”, explains Timo Virmala from GRK Rail Oy.
The modernization program of
the CCS systems will take place in three different stages during 2020 - 2027. Execution
phase of stages one and two is planned to be completed by the end of 2024.