Siemens/Bilfinger Berger consortium to build new tramline in Edinburgh

As a member of a consortium led by the construction company Bilfinger Berger, the Mobility Division of Siemens’ Industry Sector has been awarded the order for Scotland’s currently biggest infrastructure project.

The two companies are to build a new 19-kilometer-long tramline in Edinburgh as a turnkey project worth a total value over 640 million euros. The contract for the consortium is worth 350 million euros, the Siemens share is in the range of 160 million euros.

Phase 1a of the double-track tramline is scheduled to be ready for service in 2011. It will connect the city center with the northern suburbs and the airport, which is located 13 kilometers to the west of the city. The plans call for a total of 22 tram stops. As member of the consortium, Siemens will be responsible for the System Intregration, supply of the communications, control and signaling equipment, the electrification and the substations, as well as parts of the track structure itself. A 10-year maintenance contract and the supply of depot and workshop equipment round off the contract.

“Siemens has a proven track record in the international light rail market for delivery and integration of infrastructure on time and to budget. Involvement in this prestigious project is an important milestone for Siemens in Scotland, where Siemens plc currently employs over 2900 people across numerous industries from transport to power generation to financial services”, said Christian Roth, managing director for Siemens Transportation Systems UK, a part of the Mobility Division of Siemens Industry Sector.

Edinburgh has just under 450,000 inhabitants and is one of the most important traffic junctions in Scotland. The city used to have a tram network but closed it down in 1907. Ever since then, the only form of public transportation has been the bus. The customer of Siemens and Bilfinger Berger is Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (tie), a completely owned subsidiary of the city of Edinburgh. There are plans to expand the tram network in a total of four phases in the coming years. Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (tie) hopes the trams will offer the people of Edinburgh a new and attractive choice of transportation that also appeals to car users where other forms of public conveyance have failed.

With this new order the newly formed Siemens Mobility Division – which integrates the activities of the former Transportation Systems Group (TS) following the restructuring of Siemens – has chalked up another success in Great Britain. Siemens has supplied trains to the operators of First TransPennine Express, South West Trains, Heathrow Express, One Great Eastern, Northern Trains and London Midland and is also responsible for maintaining these trains. Recently, Siemens received an order from the British leasing company, Porterbrook, to supply 37 Desiro type trains. The order is worth 240 million euros and deliveries are to start as early as this year.

The company is also a member of the Express Rail Alliance, a consortium involved in the tendering for the Intercity Express program and in the development, construction and maintenance of the next generation of high speed trains for Great Britain.

The Siemens Industry Sector (Erlangen, Germany) is the worldwide leading supplier of production, transportation and building technologies. With integrated hardware and software technologies as well as comprehensive Industry-specific solutions, Siemens increases the productivity and efficiency of its customers in the fields of industry and infrastructure. The Sector consists of six divisions: Building Technologies, Industry Automation, Industry Solutions, Mobility, Drive Technologies and Osram.

With around 209,000 employees worldwide Siemens Industry achieved in fiscal 2007 total sales of approximately EUR40 billion (pro forma, unconsolidated).

The Siemens Mobility Division (Erlangen, Germany) is the internationally leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions. With its “Complete Mobility” approach, the Division is focused on networking the various modes of transportation in order to ensure the efficient transport of people and goods. Complete Mobility combines the company's competence in operations control systems for railways and traffic control systems for roadways together with solutions for airport logistics, postal automation, traction power supplies and rolling stock for mass transit, regional and mainline services, as well as forward-looking service concepts.
Siemens AG
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