Alstom awarded Hong Kong MTR upgrade

expat network

Alstom awarded Hong Kong MTR upgrade

Alstom has been awarded a contract worth €28 million by Mass Transport Railway Corporation to replace the track circuits of five MTR lines and Airport Express in Hong Kong’s metro network by early 2019.

Metro track circuits, which are part of the signalling system, are used to ensure the integrity of the rails and detect the position of the trainsets on the lines. The original track circuits for the six lines were supplied and installed by Alstom between 1985 and 1998. These will now be replaced with Alstom’s latest generation of track circuits to function for another 20 years. No interruptions will occur on the lines, as the works will be performed during the non-traffic hours.

This project will be led by Alstom Hong Kong and supported by the Alstom signalling teams in Saint-Ouen, France.

Alstom has been a partner of MTR Corporation for the last 40 years. Since the first metro project in Hong Kong in 1975, Alstom has supplied over 1,100 metro cars to MTR and equipped six lines with signalling systems. In January 2015, Alstom, as part of a consortium, (with Thales) won the signaling system replacement project in Hong Kong which aims to renovate the signalling system of six MTR lines and the Airport Express over a period of 10 years.

Source: www.alstom.com

Moving Abroad Checklist

Initial Considerations

Will your partner be travelling with you?

If so, what will they be giving up in your present home and will they be able to continue with their career in your new home? You will need to check whether a separate visa is required for your partner to work or if your visa gives that right. If they are unable to work you will need to decide on the effect on your finances and what alternatives are available to give a fulfilling life (home business, training, voluntary work).

Are you taking family with you?

Moving with family raises many exciting opportunities, but also can create challenges. The HSBC Expat Explorer survey indicates that expat kids can take six months to settle in to their new country (see article). Getting young or even older children to prepare to move and leave their friends and family behind can be a challenge and should be thought through.

The options for education is another area that needs to be thought through.

Moving your child to a new country with a different education system can be a great opportunity to broaden their experience, but if they are close to key exams the timing can make this inadvisable. If you do take your family with you, it is important to decide between joining the local school system or choosing an international school.

Where will you be living?

Whether you will be living in a house or apartment, furnished or unfurnished, these decisions will affect what you need to take with you. The time you are planning to live overseas will also affect whether you should leave your property at home empty, rent it out or sell it. See the article Sell, Store or Ship.