Taiwan relies on Thales to reduce travel time and alleviate busy traffic thanks to new a Light Rail Transit

Thales won a new contract for the future Ankeng Light Rail Transit (LRT) project in Taiwan. Under the planning of the New Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems, the Ankeng LRT project is part of the transportation expansion plan in the Greater Taipei region that aims to reduce travelling time between regions and to alleviate the busy traffic volume within the metropolitan area. This is the third win for Thales in Taiwan following successful LRT contracts awarded for Danhai and Kaohsiung.

Awarded by the China Steel Corporation, this contract involves the delivery, design and manufacturing of signalling, automatic vehicle localization, priority management, passengers and security services, communications and Operation Control Centre (OCC) systems. The Ankeng LRT line will be one of the new lines connecting passengers coming from other districts/regions within Taipei to the Greater Taipei metro network, providing convenient transportation-route options and addressing increasing demand. It is scheduled to enter service in early 2022.

The turnkey solution comprises signalling, automatic vehicle localization, priority management at road crossing, passengers services (public address, passengers information, security services such as video protection), communications technology (telephony, radio, clock, backbone), Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA), project management, as well as installation, testing and commissioning to be performed locally in Taiwan.

Thales is a world leader in ground transportation solutions with successful deliveries of numerous transportation projects in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and Mainland China. This third successful LRT contract for Ankeng firmly establishes Thales’ leading position in the Taiwanese transportation market.

Benoit Couture, Thales VP in charge of Integrated Communications & Supervision Systems, said “This contract is a new demonstration of the commitment from Thales to enhance its skillsets and expertise in the Taiwanese transportation market, aligned with Thales Taiwan’s goals to strengthen its local industrial capabilities with our partner China Steel Cooperation. We want to continue being recognized as a trusted partner to Taiwan’s transportation authorities as it works towards developing a robust transportation network serving the needs of its growing population. We are confident that other countries in the region can also leverage our expertise for their Tramway growth plans.” 

About Thales

Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Transport, Defense and Security markets. With 62,000 employees in 56 countries, Thales reported sales of $15.5 billion in 2015. With over 22,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design and deploy equipment, systems and services to meet the most complex security requirements. Thales’ unique international footprint allows it to work closely with customers all over the world.