CHINA: Beijing MTR Corp has awarded a consortium of Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, Beijing Hua-Tie Information Technology Development Co and Thales a turnkey contract to provide signalling for the Daxing Line.

Scheduled to open on December 28 2010, the 11-station line will extend the recently-opened Beijing metro Line 4 south by 21·8 km from Gongyixiqiao to Tiangongyuan in the capital's suburbs.

Thales will provide its SelTrac communications-based train control, with Alcatel-Lucent responsible for network integration and consulting, design and engineering services.

The companies have previously won similar turnkey contracts for metro signalling in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Wuhan.