IRSE News 142 Feb 09.pdf

INDUSTRY NEWS
MODURBAN project successfully concludes
with Madrid real-time demonstrations
After four years of work, MODURBAN, the €20 million research project is now reaching its final conclusions.
On 18 December 2008 in Madrid, those responsible for the project presented and showcased some of the
key MODURBAN results on the Metro de Madrid network.
MODURBAN stands for Modular Urban Guided Rail System and is a joint Research & Development (R&D) project funded to 50%
by the urban rail market stakeholders and 50% by the European Commission under the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme for
Research and Development. The project was launched in January 2005 and is due to finish officially in March 2009. The aim of
MODURBAN is twofold; to provide common functional specifications for urban rail operators (called Functional Requirement
Specifications (FRS)), and to provide a common technical architecture for urban rail manufacturers. Project management has been
handled by UNIFE – the Association of the European Rail Industry.
Speaking in Madrid on 18 December 2008, UNIFE’s Head of Railway Systems and MODURBAN Project Manager, Bernard von
Wullerstorff stated, “MODURBAN was the first of its kind Europe-wide concerning a joint pre-competitive R&D project. It brings
together all the major rail industry suppliers such as integrators and system suppliers and all the big European rail operators and
universities.”
“Overall, the ambition of those involved in the project was to achieve cost reductions for buying and running urban rail transport
systems, and this through the development of the Functional Requirement Specifications - FRS,” he said. The MODURBAN FRS has
been fully endorsed by all the operators and the entire project consortium. “The cornerstone of the project and indeed major result
after almost four years is undoubtedly the FRS. It is a complete set of ‘ready-to-use’ requirements, suitable for all urban rail
operators, covering systems ranging from manually driven trains to fully driverless operations. The benefits therefore are crystal
clear: the assurance of a comprehensive set of requirements and a real performance specification,” said Carlos Rodriguez Sanchez of
Metro de Madrid.
Bernard von Wullerstorff adds, “all in all, these agreed requirements clarify the roles and responsibilities between the operators
and the suppliers – and that today is REAL progress.”
Among the developments during the MODURBAN project have been the success in defining a commonly agreed Fault tolerant
Data Communications System where one network supports all applications (train control, video, passenger information, etc), and
where this Data Communications System is interoperable/interchangeable between the different suppliers.
ALSTOM Group seals Vietnamese
Signalling & Telecommunications
Contract
The ALSTOM Transport SA-Hasitect-ALSTOM Vietnam Ltd consortium on
5 December 2008 signed an EPC bidding package worth more than EUR
42.7 million (USD 54.6 million) to modernise the telecommunications
and signalling system for the second phase of Vietnam Railway’s Hanoi-
Vinh line.
The upgraded section, part of the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City line, is
319 km long and includes 36 train stations. “Upgrading the line to
satisfy domestic demands for transportation in the future is absolutely
essential because transport density and railway transport through
capacity here are so high,” said Vietnam National Railway General
Director Nguyen Huu Bang.
The project was approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and
funded in 2005 with a EUR 40.3 million loan from the French Ministry of
Finance’s Treasury and Economic Policy General Directorate (DGTPE).
The two-phase project has a total cost of EUR 51.3 million, of which
about EUR 11.1 million is being paid by the Vietnamese Government.
The project will replace out-of-date telecommunication and signalling
systems on the Hanoi-Vinh section of the transnational railway to
improve the capacity, quality and safety of rail transportation.
Project Director Tran Van Luc said that the contract would cover
surveying, technical planning, cost estimates, training and other
elements of the project. The French Embassy first trade counsellor,
Guillaume Rousson, said, “DGTPE and the France Development Agency
has sponsored EUR 142.5 million for Vietnamese Railways since 1990,
proving it is a special concern of the French Government for the
modernisation of Vietnam”.
On the Metro de Madrid network today, MODURBAN
demonstrated a selection of results, namely:
The Intelligent Driving concept;
Interchangeable Data Communication System
operation;
Passenger Information System and Video onboard
and wayside operation;
Light Weight Materials (prototype development of
light weight grab rail).
All publicly available results, promotional video and
presentations can be downloaded via
www.modurban.org and www.unife.org.
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Issue 142 February 2009