The trains come from numerous different suppliers and run on the high-traffic Stuttgart network. Credit: Abellio Sören Hagenlocher.

Germany’s Baden-Wuerttemberg State Institute for Rail Vehicles (SFBW) has awarded a contract to Alstom to retrofit 118 regional trains with the European Train Control System (ETCS) Automatic Train Operation (ATO) digital signalling technology.

The contract holds a value of about $154m (€130m) and is part of the Stuttgart Digital Node lighthouse project.

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It also covers a cooperation agreement for the maintenance of the software, as well as a contract for additional maintenance.

These 118 trains come from numerous different suppliers and run on the high-traffic Stuttgart network.

They will be upgraded with the ETCS Level 2 and 3, as well as ATO level 2 (GoA2) technology.

By 2024, the initial upgrade project will be concluded.

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The next upgrade, as per the European Technical Specifications for Interoperability 2022, will be finished by 2027.

Alstom said in a statement: “While ATO technology has already been implemented in metros and urban rail lines in cities like Paris, the highly automated operation (GoA 2) is now being used for the first time in Germany on the basis of ETCS Level 2 in the Stuttgart Digital Node.”

After the completion of the initial upgrade project, the new signalling technology will enhance capacity, sustainability, and frequency on the Stuttgart network.

As agreed, Alstom and SFBW will also define the requirements for Train Integrity Monitoring (TIM), Future Railway Mobile Communication System upgrade capability, Train Capability and for Open CCS On-board Reference Architecture.

Alstom will also be responsible for the deployment of the developed requirements.

The Alstom signalling site in Germany is executing the project in collaboration with Belgium’s ETCS competence facility.

The series deployment will occur near Stuttgart or in Hennigsdorf.

Last month, Alstom secured a contract from Germany-based Deutsche Bahn’s DB Regio to install the ETCS and ATO signalling technology onboard 215 Stuttgart S-Bahn trains.