A 50-50 consortium of Colas Rail and Eiffage Énergie Systèmes has received a €26m contract from Société du Grand Paris for the delivery of traction equipment for Express Line 18.

Under the contract, the firms will supply the traction system to power the underground trains on Line 18, a key link in the Grand Paris Express network spanning 35km between Orly Airport and Versailles Chantiers station.

Scope of the contract involves execution and synthesis studies, equipment provision, installation and connection works, as well as trials and commissioning.

It will also cover project management, internal and external coordination, interface processing, besides staff training, and the supply of spare parts.

The companies will deliver equipment, including traction distribution facilities for an operating centre, 15 rectification substations, seven switching substations, two traction control installations, and 140km of traction cabling.

This equipment will help distribute power to trains on Line 18 through a third rail and related automated safety systems.

The design phase of the project commenced in January this year. Initial works on the project will begin by mid-2023 while proceeding in three stages between 2023 and 2027 will enable phased commissioning until 2030.

Eiffage Énergie Systèmes deputy CEO Olivier Miens said: “Securing this contract consolidates our presence in the Grand Paris infrastructure ‘systems’ market, by contributing our expertise in traction energy and safety automation.

“Our teams are fully mobilised alongside our partner, Colas Rail, working as an integrated unit to meet the challenges of commissioning Line 18.”

In May, Colas Rail won a contract for the deployment of low-voltage systems for lines T3 and T4 of the Casablanca tramway in Morocco.