City metro system courtesy of Alcatel
By Gong Xin (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-10-09 11:44

Alcatel announced on September 28 that the first phase of the Wuhan city metro system went into official operation using Alcatel train control and signalling system.

Wuhan, in Central China's Hubei Province, became the first city on the Chinese mainland to use Alcatel's communication-based train control solution and the fifth to offer metro services to meet the daily transportation needs of the public.

Deploying its SelTracCBTC solution, Alcatel completed on schedule in a remarkable 26 months, an unusually short time span for the installation and successful operation of such an advanced system.

Alcatel's SelTrac S40 solution incorporates central control flexibility and moving-block technology. It provides reliable, automatic train supervision and operation for Wuhan's 12 four-car trains, which can travel at a maximum speed of 80 kilometres per hour, and controls 25 interlocking points.

"We believe building an efficient modern metro network is the only way for Wuhan to meet the needs of its citizens and tourists for improved mobility, while reducing air pollution and optimizing the use of land," said Zhang Songxin, general manager of Wuhan Rail Transit Company Limited (WHRT).

"We are very happy to be the first in China to use Alcatel's world leading signalling technology, which offers obvious advantages in maximizing operational flexibility and expandability, while at the same time minimizing maintenance costs," he said.

Yao Chunqiao, executive deputy general manager of WHRT, said: "Together with Alcatel's experts, we designed a systematic testing procedure for the automatic train control system. We conducted many on-site experiments to test its security and reliability in all kinds of emergency situations which we could possibly imagine. The results showed that this is a highly reliable system."

With a population of over 8 million, Wuhan is the largest city in central China.

The first phase of the Wuhan metro system serves 10 stations over 10 kilometres. For its second phase, it will extend at each end to a total length of 30 kilometres to serve an additional 16 stations.

The designed transporting capacity for line one is 30,000 people per hour, with a minimum interval of 90 seconds between two trains.

"Our system is recognized as the leading control and signalling system for optimized rail traffic throughput," explained Guy Sellier, vice president of Alcatel's transport solution activities.

SelTrac S40, with its Moving Block technology, is in commercial operation and is being implemented in more than 20 countries along a total of 500 kilometres of urban rail transit lines, he added.

In Asia Pacific, Alcatel's SelTrac solutions equip the Ankara metro, Kuala Lumpur Putra line, Hong Kong KCRC West Rail and Hong Kong Ma On Shan East Rail Extension.

MTR's Penny's Bay Link will go into revenue service in 2005 and will become Asia's first to incorporate Alcatel's open-standard "free space" wireless communications sub-system.

The same system is being applied to KNR's Bundang Line in Seoul. Last year, Guangzhou Metro also selected Alcatel's CBTC system for its under-construction line 3 project.

To meet the challenge of increased mobility, Alcatel offers a host of advanced urban rail transit solutions to move people safely through the network in a comfortable, reliable and cost-effective way.

Drawing on broad international experience in all aspects of transport automation, Alcatel is a leading worldwide supplier of train control, signalling, train routing, control centre and integrated rail communications technologies.

For urban line operators, Alcatel's offering includes proven SelTrac communications-based train control, NetTrac MT network management, and LockTrac electronic interlocking system solutions.

Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees.

Alcatel leverages its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks, applications and services to bring value to its customers in the framework of a broadband world.

With sales of 12.5 billion euro (US$15 billion) in 2003, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.

Alcatel has been established in China since the early 1980s, with a full portfolio of telecom equipment activities.

In 2000, Alcatel made history as the first multinational to set up its Asia Pacific headquarters in Shanghai.

In 2001, Alcatel and China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) signed an agreement to create the first foreign-invested company in the country's telecom sector, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, integrating Alcatel's key operations in China with Shanghai Bell.

Alcatel Shanghai Bell was officially launched in May 2002 and is the leading Chinese telecom technology vendor.

Alcatel's business activities span sky, sea and land. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet:http://www.alcatel.com.

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