Alstom and its two Chinese joint ventures were awarded two contracts by Beijing MTR Construction Administration Corp. to provide both advanced traction and signaling systems for the new Line 6 of the Beijing metro.

Beijing Line 6, which represents the longest metro line in construction in Beijing, runs through the city, starting from Wuluju in the West to Tongzhou New Town in the East. The entry into commercial service of Beijing Line 6 Phase 1 is planned in 2012.

The first joint venture, Shanghai Alstom Transport Electrical Equipment Co., Ltd. (SATEE), will provide a traction system with the latest technology named OPTONIX for the 512 metro cars (64 8-car train set).

OPTONIX, specially designed and developed by Alstom for the Chinese market, reduces travel time and increases frequency of the train operation. Furthermore, it allows the train to consume 30 percent less energy than a conventional metro, according to the company.

In parallel, the second joint venture, CASCO, will deliver an advanced train control and signaling system to Beijing Line 6. The metro line 6 will be equipped with the Urbalis Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) system that integrates network communications with data transmission by radio.

Already implemented on Line 2, Alstom's Urbalis CBTC system reduces the intervals between trains in order to ensure passenger traffic of over one million passengers per day.