Siemens Mobility, as head of a consortium with Elsitel and Imsat, has been awarded three contracts worth €308m for modernising railway signalling and interlocking systems in Romania.

The contracts were awarded through competitive public procurement procedures by Romania’s railway infrastructure manager CFR SA. Together, they form one of the most comprehensive signalling modernisation programmes underway in Romania.

The projects include the modernisation of signalling infrastructure across approximately 560km of railway lines, including 66 stations, 13 central operation centres, 122 level crossings and more than 2000 signals. 

“Rail is essential for Romania’s sustainable mobility future,” said Marc Ludwig, CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility (www.mobility.siemens.com). “These three projects will modernise critical signalling infrastructure across the country, improving safety, increasing network capacity and enabling more reliable rail services for passengers and freight. Together with our partners Elsitel and Imsat, we are proud to support the digital transformation of Romania’s railway network.”

The projects cover railway sections and stations within the Cluj, Timișoara, Iași and Galați regional railway branches. They will replace aging signalling infrastructure that has significantly exceeded its designed operational lifecycle. Existing electrodynamic and mechanical interlocking systems, some dating back several decades, will be upgraded with modern signalling and traffic management technologies, improving safety, capacity, reliability and operational performance.

In addition, the projects support Romania’s and the European Union’s objectives to strengthen rail transport as a sustainable mobility option. By enabling more efficient and reliable rail services, the modernisation programme should encourage the shift of passenger and freight transport from road to rail, contributing to long-term decarbonisation goals.

Turkish firm Elsitel (www.elsitel.com.tr) offers engineering technology to electromechanical systems in industrial and transportation sectors and focuses on railway signalling, telecommunication and electrification systems. Its head office is in Ankara and it has branches in Jeddah and Tbilisi.

Imsat (www.imsat.ro) is a Romanian industrial engineering and automation company.