CBG is a mining company located in the Republic of Guinea. A subsidiary of CBG operates the Boke railway to transport ore from its mines to the Kamsar plant. New Bauxite loading and unloading stations will be provided along the existing rail line and the increase in traffic will require track modifications and modernized train control system. Furthermore, the CFB radio system will be modernized in order to standardize the radio communication used by the mine, the plant, and the railway operation. The new signalling system to be provided will utilise Positive Train Control, comparable with the ERTMS system in Europe.
BWB provided both a technical lead for the Wayside Segment and a Wayside Subject Matter Expert to support the development phase of the project. Wayside segment was responsible for providing the lineside equipment rooms, called Bungalows, which included; the solar power supply system (including secondary batteries for continuous supply for up to 3 days), telecommunications switches (for connection to the fibre optical network) and equipment (including Radio masts and WiFi access points), the Object Controller for wayside equipment (connected to the interlocking via the telecoms network), and all lineside equipment, such as powered switches, electric switch locks and powered derailers. All equipment was provided to comply with the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association, AREMA, and European Standards, EN, to ensure that the products / solutions either complied to the specific requirements, or demonstrated how products are still suitable when not necessarily meeting all the technical requirements.
The wayside segment had to work closely with the IVOC (Independent Validation Office Controller - the central interlocking / train controller) and DCS (Data Communications System) to ensure compatibility between the interlocking controller and the lineside equipment. Intersegment design reviews were completed to ensure this integration. The design stage started in January 2021 with AFC completed in late 2022 and construction in 2023. The project value is $40m.
Stefan Zalega
Executive Director - Rail and International
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