Deutsche Bahn (DB), together with the German Railway Industry Asso-ciation (VDB), is equipping seven regional lines with digital interlocking technology this year. (VDB) is equipping seven regional lines with digital interlocking technology this year. The new technology will replace con-ventional interlocking systems of various designs in North Rhine-West-phalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia and the Free State of Bavaria. Seven industrial companies sign the first contracts for the so-called high-speed program with DB Netz AG. Alstom, Hitachi, In-oSig, Pintsch, Scheidt&Bachmann, Siemens Mobility and Thaies Deutschland will each equip one digital interlocking. For the industry, the program brings stable orders; innovations are applied for the first time, new companies enter and standards are es-tablished for digital technology. For the industry, the investment program means securing numerous jobs during the pandemic period. The order is financed from the federal government's Corona stimulus package, which provides for additional investments of EUR 500 mil-lion by the end of 2021. The use of the funds and an acceleration program had been agreed by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, DB and VDB 2020. EUR 100 million from the economic stimulus package had al-ready been deployed last year, and EUR 400 million will flow this year. Enak Ferlemann, Parliamenta-ry State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, said that the expe-rience gained from the pilot pro-jects must now be used to reduce costs and construction times even more in the further implementa-tion of digital interlockings. Simi-lar comments were made by Gerald Hoerster, President of the Federal Railway Authority: "This program offers the opportunity for the railroads, the rail industry and the approval authority to further optimize the approval pro-cesses on the basis of manageable projects and thus be better pre-pared for the area rollout."
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