Mantena has supplied an ATC system for Norway's longest track alignment machine on assignment for NRC Bane AS.
ATC stands for Automatic Train Control. An ATC system is an automatic monitoring system that alerts about irregularities. The system is designed to ensure that a train, whether it is a regular passenger train or a work machine, cannot travel too fast or run a red signal.
Svein Ole Bakken is the contract manager for construction machinery at Mantena. He has been the project manager for the delivery and explains that the machine is equipped with two ATC systems due to its total length of 57.5 meters.
– All trains in Norway must have an ATC system installed in order to access the tracks and operate on Bane NOR's network. The purpose of an ATC system is quite simply to prevent the train or machine from running a red signal.
In operation in March
Bakken explains that they were in Austria before Christmas for commissioning. The track alignment machine is now in Hamar for training and operational tests. This includes, among other things, live testing of the ATC system on the track according to specific test procedures. For the project manager, this is now the final stage of the delivery.
– This has been an extensive delivery for Mantena. In this project we delivered everything from electronics, cabling, and contact materials to engineering, documentation, and commissioning at the factory in Austria. The first partial delivery was just over a year ago, and now the plan is for the track alignment machine to be ready for operation during March.