Alstom Transport and the Italian railway network operator Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) signed a contract worth approximately $40.7 million to install a signal system based on the ATLAS level 2 ERTMS rail traffic management system implemented on trans-European lines. The revenue service is slated to be operational in 2012.

Based on Alstom’s Atlas 200 platform, the system will include a train system control that complies with ERTMS standard and a multi-station interlocking architecture in accordance with RFI standards.

These state-of-the-art railway signal technologies will ensure the safe management of trains in high-speed transit through the city, representing approximately 10 miles in length, six of which is underground, connecting the Bologna-Florence and Bologna-Milan High Speed lines.

Thanks to these works, high-speed trains will be able to travel from Milan to Florence at 186 mph without traffic interference from suburban trains, ensuring improved punctuality and faster journey time. 

The contract complements the activities already carried out by Alstom to implement the Computerized Central System of the Bologna Centrale railway station.

Since 2009, the computer has safely managed traffic of over 700 trains per day — with a potential to handle 1,200 trains — improving both flexibility and modularity. The contract also includes building the infrastructure of the Bologna-Florence high-speed line (48 miles in length, 45 miles of which is tunnels) which carries all the high-speed passenger traffic from northern Italy to Rome.

In 2005, Alstom equipped the first very-high-speed line with the ATLAS ERTMS Level 2 system. The Rome-Naples line, operated by RFI, is 134 miles long. Alstom supplied the onboard ATLAS equipment for 27 ETR 500 type trains running at 186 mph.