photo: Network Rail/press materials/Alstom wins and GBP 69 million contract from Network Rail
Alstom announced in its March 30 press release that it had won a second major contract from Network Rail to build signaling systems on the lines leading to London Victoria Station. The contract is valued at GBP 69 million and includes new infrastructure, control technology, and signaling.
In March 2021, the fourth phase of the GBP 37 million Victoria project was completed. It was immediately followed by the announcement of Phase 5 GRIP 5-8 stages of the Victoria Area Re-signalling Programme, part of Network Rail's four-year package of track modernization work from the 1980s. This phase will be launched in December 2024.
"Passengers can look forward to a more reliable railway across the South London area. The improvements Alstom brings through Victoria 5, when combined with our existing Victoria 4 project, means that we can continue to realize our commitments in the Major Signalling Framework Agreement (MSFA)," said Jason Baldock, Managing Director, Digital & Integrated Solution, Alstom.
Implementation of this project will improve the efficiency and reliability of the system and the movement of freight and passenger trains, particularly between Battersea, Brixton, Herne Hill, and the Catford Loop.
"The award of this GRIP 5-8 contract for Victoria Phase 5, the next major phase of the wider Victoria Area Re-signalling Program, marks both the end and beginning chapters of an enormous effort by the joint Network Rail and Alstom teams. Since the teams formed for the delivery of the GRIP 4 contract, they have been on a collective journey of discovery. This has focussed on safe-by-design, safe delivery principles whose goal has remained to delight the passenger and end-user, and this has been delivered throughout within a culture established to promote a collaborative working environment. I look forward to continuing to be a part of these shared successes and to further witness the team's continual growth and development, with the ultimate goal of celebrating the benefits the passengers will see upon completion of the scheme early in 2025," said Jamie Foster, Senior Program Manager at Network Rail.
As part of the Major Signaling Systems Framework Agreement (MSFA) for the Southern Region, which Alstom won in 2020, Network Rail will control 494 new axle counters, 302 new signal equivalent units (SEUs), and 82 new Train Protection Warning Systems (TPWS) units. All of this will be linked by 86,500 m of signaling cable.