Rail manufacturer Alstom has confirmed it will maintain the trains and signalling infrastructure it is delivering for the Sydney Metro Northwest project for at least 15 years.
The French multinational, which is delivering 22 of its six-car Metropolis train sets to Sydney Metro Northwest, said on July 11 it had signed a rollingstock and signalling maintenance contract with the NSW Government.
The contract includes maintenance and cleaning of rollingstock, maintenance of point machines along the 36-kilometre train line, maintenance of the Alstom Urbalis 400 Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling systems, and operation and maintenance of the Sydney Metro Northwest depot.
“Alstom is delighted to be providing long term maintenance support to the iconic Sydney Metro project,” Alstom Australia and New Zealand managing director Mark Coxon said. “The award of this contract further strengthens Alstom’s position in the railway maintenance sector in Australia.”
Alstom plans to employ more than 50 people, full time, on the contract, and is targeting a 5% share of work done by apprentices. The company plans to get to work building the team soon, with Sydney Metro Northwest destined to be operational in the first half of next year.
Alstom says it will deploy its HealthHub maintenance platform on the project, which uses scanning and tracing technology as well as an automated diagnostics system to provide real-time information on the condition of assets.
Sydney Metro Northwest is a new rail line linking several major growth areas in Sydney’s north west to Chatswood, where commuters will be able to travel to the Sydney CBD and other business and retail centres.
It will be the first passenger line in Australia to operate automated trains, which will run at a metro-style, turn-up-and-go frequency.