USA: New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority has awarded Siemens Mobility and LK Comstock a design-and-build contract to deploy communications-based train control on the Subway’s A and C lines serving the Fulton Avenue corridor in Brooklyn and Queens.
The Fulton Street corridor starts at Jay Street-MetroTech station and runs through central Brooklyn to Euclid Avenue station, where C trains from Manhattan turn back. A trains continue to Ozone Park-Lefferts Boulevard in Queens; this segment is referred to as the Liberty Avenue corridor. The A (express) train uses the Fulton-Liberty corridor for a significant portion of its route in Brooklyn and Queens, while the C (local) uses the Fulton Street tracks for its entire route through Brooklyn before it crosses into Manhattan.
CBTC programme
The contract involves the installation of lineside equipment and 5G-based data communications covering 65 track-km and 23 stations, including the fitting tracks passing through the key hub of
It will include cables to support mobile phone serves for passengers throughout the tunnels, repair and replacement of turnouts, replacing track circuits with axle-counters, tunnel lighting upgrades, modification of R160 and R179 metro cars and integration with the newer R211 fleet which is already fitted for CBTC.
RailWorks Corp subsidiary LK Comstock will decommission redundant signalling equipment, undertake the track and infrastructure works and construct four train control rooms. The project will require the installation of more than 1 200 km of cables as well as a distributed antenna system.
Siemens Mobility’s $390m share of the contract includes the supply of its Trainguard MT CBTC. Once the modernisation is complete, Siemens Mobility will provide 25 years of maintenance, with the option for two five-year extensions.
Novisal has been appointed to provide safety management services in line with federal, state, city and MTA requirements.
A better travel experience
The Fulton Street corridor works are being funded as part of the MTA’s 2020-24 Capital Plan which includes road Congestion Relief Zone revenues. The portion of work east of Euclid Avenue is being funded as part of the 2025-29 Capital Plan.
Three bidders competed for the contract, following efforts by MTA to bring more firms into the market with a view to controlling costs while ensuring quality. In January, MTA said that a new delivery approach means the project is 33% cheaper on a per-mile basis than previous signalling modernisation projects.
‘Modernising the Fulton-Liberty lines is not just a technological milestone — it’s a commitment to delivering a better, more efficient and frequent travel experience for millions of New Yorkers’, said Siemens Mobility CEO Michael Peter on April 27. He said Trainguard MT has ‘the power to enhance on-time performance and reduce train intervals to as little as 90 sec, ensuring faster, more reliable service’.