LTG awarded SRPA Impulse a contract to replace the Russian KLUB-U locomotive safety system in self-propelled rolling stock. SRPA Impulse, which won the tender, has already started the design work for the system, which will be followed by the dismantling of the existing system.
This work has been initiated following an assessment of compliance with national security interests of the winning tenderer SRPA Impulse by the Commission for Coordination of Protection of Objects Critical for National Security (NSC) received by LTG Group.
The KLUB-U system server itself was disconnected in 2017 and has no connections with LTG’s essential information systems and critical information infrastructure, while the radio stations used in the rolling stock to receive commands and transmit data via the GSM-R radio channel have been dismantled.
It is planned that under the contract, the KLUB-U locomotive safety system, which was installed in the past in rolling stock used in Lithuania, will be replaced in stages.
During this period, the locomotive safety system will be replaced in 35 LTG Link, 111 LTG Cargo and 17 LTG Infra locomotives and self-propelled sets of rail cars, 163 in total. In four more rolling stock of Geležinkelio tiesimo centras (GTC), a company of LTG Group, the Estonian VEPS locomotive safety system has already been installed and tested.
“We are accelerating our plans and aiming to move away from the Russian KLUB-U locomotive safety system as soon as possible to ensure the use of a safe system and the supply of spare parts in all locomotives and self-propelled sets of railroad cars of LTG Group. Although we manage risks and ensure security even when using KLUB-U, which we isolated from other IT systems of LTG Group, our goal is to have the equipment fully compatible with national security interests as soon as possible and with a guaranteed supply of spare parts from Lithuania-friendly countries,” Gediminas Šečkus, Chief Resilience Officer at LTG Group said.
After SRPA Impulse won the tender for a new locomotive safety system announced by LTG Group last year, the NSC and the Financial Crime Investigation Service were contacted and only after receiving confirmation that there were no circumstances that prevented the contracts from being concluded, SRPA Impulse was allowed to start the implementation of the new system.
In total, LTG Group is investing EUR 10.1 million in a secure new locomotive control system.
The installation of the new safety system is part of the FREE Rail programme initiated and implemented by LTG Group. The aim of FREE Rail is to integrate the rail sector into the European rail system and to increase resilience. FREE Rail will also enable the development and implementation of a rail operating model tailored to the Baltic region, based on EU standards and best practices as well as aligned with the specificities of broad gauge.
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