Irish Rail procures new Train Protection System

IRISH Rail (IE) published a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union on September 19 for the design, supply and safety validation of trackside equipment for its new Train Protection System (TPS).

In 2011 IE awarded Alstom a framework contract to develop and supply an onboard TPS to replace the life-expired Continuous Automatic Warning System (CAWS) and Automatic Train Protection (ATP) hardware systems.

IE is now planning to roll out this system, dubbed the Irish Rail Hybrid System (IEHS) across the network, and is seeking a supplier for the trackside element of the project, with the aim of awarding the contract by April 2018.

Under the eight-year single-supplier framework agreement, the winning bidder will be responsible for all aspects of trackside system design (including the interface with the Alstom onboard equipment), safety validation, technical support during installation, as well as validation, verification, testing and commissioning.

The equipment will include:

- ECTS-compatible balises for communication with onboard equipment

- Lineside Electronic Units (balise encoders) for communication with the balises and existing lineside signals, and

- EuroBalise and encoder programming and test equipment.

Installation of the equipment will be carried out by IE staff.

The contract includes training for IE staff in the design, maintenance and operation of the trackside equipment and system.