Ansaldo STS

Ansaldo STS S.p.A.
Società per azioni
Traded as BIT: STS
Industry Engineering, transportation
Founded 2006 [1]
Headquarters Genoa, Italy
Key people
 Stefano Siragusa (CEO), Sergio De Luca (Chairman)
Services Railway signalling and control systems, railway design, engineering and maintenance
Revenue Increase €1,303.5 billion (2014)[2]
Increase €130.5 million (2014 - Adjusted)[2]
Profit Increase €80.7 million (2014)[2]
Total assets €1,429 billion (2014)[2]
Total equity €355.0 million (2014)[2]
Number of employees
 3,799 (2014)[2]
Parent Finmeccanica
Website www.ansaldo-sts.com

Ansaldo STS S.p.A. is an Italian[3] transportation company with a global presence in the field of signaling and integrated transport systems for passenger traffic (Railway / Mass Transit) and freight operations. Ansaldo STS plans, designs, manufactures, installs and commissions signaling systems, integrated mobility solutions, components and high technologies for the management and control of newly built or upgraded Railway, Transit and Freight lines worldwide.

Headquartered in Genoa, Italy and controlled with a 40% stake by Finmeccanica, the company's shares are listed on the Borsa Italiana and is a component of the benchmark FTSE MIB Index.

In February 2015 Hitachi announced plans to acquire Ansaldo STS.[4]

Providing design, manufacture, installation, integration and maintenance of a wide range of train control systems and equipment dedicated to safety, efficiency, reliability, and sustainability, Ansaldo STS employs 3,799 people worldwide.

History

The company was founded in 2006 through the merger of several major international railway companies.[5] The company’s namesake comes from the Italian company Gio. Ansaldo & C., founded in 1853 in Genoa, Italy by Giovanni Ansaldo. Gio. Ansaldo & C.began as a steam locomotive producer, which diversified into shipbuilding and electrical and nuclear energy production.[6]

In 1881 the US company Union Switch & Signal (US&S) was founded by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from the assets of the Interlocking Switch & Signal Company (interlocking controls) and the Union Electric Signal Company. The latter was founded by the American engineer and inventor William Robinson, the father of track circuit systems. In 1988 US&S merged with Ansaldo STS.[7]

In Europe, Ansaldo STS expanded acquiring the French company Compagnie des Signaux pour Chemins de fer (CSE) in 1996. Founded in 1902 by Mr. Fernand Cumont with the support of the financial group Empain, CSE built the first lines of the Paris metro: the maintenance of these lines continues until today. In 1920 CSE (independent since 1912) was renamed into Company and Business Electrical Signals (CSEE), concentrating on rail signaling and electrical manufacturing, contributing to create SAGEM and later (1996) entering in the Ansaldo Signal group.

In the 1993 parent company Ansaldo SpA was merged into the Finmeccanica holding, a state-owned entity privatized during the same year. In 2001, Ansaldo SpA’s transportation business was separated and divided into three companies: AnsaldoBreda (rolling stock manufacturer); Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario (signaling and rail traffic control automation); Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari (transport systems design construction and maintenance). Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario became the parent company of Ansaldo Signal (railway signalling), the owner of Union Switch & Signal and CSEE.

In 2006 Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari and Ansaldo Signal merged.[5] It began trading on the Milan Stock exchange, with 60% of its shares publicly held and 40% owned by Finmeccanica S.p.A.[8] Both companies had their roots in the Ansaldo engineering conglomerate which was gradually absorbed by Finmeccanica. Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari was created in 2000, acquiring certain units of Ansaldo Trasporti (which had been fully integrated into Finmeccanica) the following year.[5] The creation of Ansaldo STS was followed by a partial IPO in March 2006.[9]

On February 24, 2015 Hitachi completed an agreement to acquire Finmeccanica’s share of Ansaldo STS, and initiate a tender offer for the remaining shares of the company.[10]

Operations

The company's operations are split into two divisions: Freight Rail and Passenger Railway / Mass Transit. Major projects involving Ansaldo STS and its predecessor companies include the Copenhagen Metro, where it is responsible for the provision of rolling stock, Automatic Train Control, SCADA and other services;[11] and signalling on LGV Est in France and High Speed 1 in the United Kingdom.[11] The company also managed projects for signalling, train control and/or maintenance for the Metro systems of Paris,[12] Los Angeles, Rome,[13] Milan,[14] Hong Kong, Naples, Shenyang,[15] India,[13] and Thessaloniki.[11]

High-Speed rail

Ansaldo STS commissioned the first high-speed rail signaling system (TVM) for the first LGV line in France, in 1981, connecting Paris and Lyon. In 2005, Ansaldo STS set another landmark with the first high speed line running on ERTMS Level 2 (European Rail Traffic Management System) between Rome and Naples, Italy.

As of 2013 over half of all high speed lines worldwide (excluding Japan) are equipped with Ansaldo STS signaling solutions.[16]

Main Lines and freight

In Europe, the company played a key role in the development and upgrade of ERTMS (level 1 and 2),[17] leading to the interoperability of different countries' rail networks.

In both the United States and Australia, Ansaldo STS supported the freight rail industry, dating back over 130 years in the US. Ansaldo STS has products and systems on many major railroads in Australia[18] and with every Class I railroad in North America.[19]

Mass Transit

Ansaldo STS's transit control systems build upon traditional signaling technology for a new generation of more advanced systems, i.e.:

Communications Based Train Control (CBTC)[20]
A continuous, two way radio-based communication between wayside and carborne controllers used to determine train position and enforce movement authorities. The communication between adjacent zones, interlockings and carborne controllers supports safe optimized headways and maximizes system capacity.
Driverless Automatic Train Control (ATC)
Driverless ATC adds extended capability to proven ATC, ATO and ATP technology. Ansaldo STS delivered the first fully driverless train control solution to be certified under the strict European Cenelec safety standards on the Copenhagen (Denmark) Metro in 2002, winning subsequent contracts in Rome,[13] Milan,[21] Brescia,[22] Thessaloniki, Riyadh,[21] Taipei,[23] and Honolulu.[24]
Conventional metros and light rail
Ansaldo STS provides technology for traditional track circuit profile-based metro systems to "drive-on-sight" street running light rail systems to the major urban centers across the United States, Europe and other countries.

Planning and supervision

Computer Aided Dispatching (CAD)[25] system was developed by Union Switch & Signal at the Union Railroad Company in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, in 1966 starting the computer-aided dispatching in the industry.

Today Ansaldo STS adopts the Optimizing Traffic Planner[26] as a late successor of the 1966 CAD. OTP is an advanced planning engine that solves complex logistics problems under changing operating conditions to maximize capacity and increase average velocity. Computational agents respond in real-time to updated CAD and field data, issuing new movement plans that account for current conditions and all operating rules and constraints.

Applied off-line, OTP can minimize inherent conflict within a new timetable before the timetable is used in service. Applied on-line, OTP can produce significant capacity gains across a large freight oriented network.

Components

The company provides on-board and wayside components and systems, such as interlocking (MicroLok II), track circuits, switch machines (M-style), traditional and LED signals, Eurobalise, vital relays, hot wheel detectors, highway crossing mechanisms.

Investments in consolidated companies

The consolidated entities are listed above, showing the Group’s related direct or indirect interest therein at 31 December 2012.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "AnsaldoSTS - History". Ansaldo STS. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Financial Highlights". Ansaldo STS. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Financial Times: Ansaldo STS Profile". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Hitachi agrees to buy Ansaldo STS and AnsaldoBreda.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "History". Ansaldo STS. Retrieved 2013-07-11.
  6. ↑ "The Economic History of Italy 1860-199". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Pittsburg Post-Gazette: Let's Learn From the Past: Union Switch & Signal Co.". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Ansaldo STS: SHareholders".
  9. ↑ "Finmeccanica's Ansaldo STS IPO greenshoe option fully exercised". AFX News (Forbes). 28 March 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  10. ↑ "Hitachi agrees to buy Ansaldo STS and AnsaldoBreda". Railway Gazette. DVV Media Group. 2015-02-24.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Company Profile: Ansaldo STS Main Projects". Ansaldo STS. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  12. ↑ "Ansaldo STS wins Paris Metro signalling contract". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "International Railway Journal: Ansaldo STS wins metro contracts in three cities". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  14. ↑ "Reuters - Ansaldo STS SpA comments on contract related to Milan Metro line 4". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  15. ↑ "Shenyang Metro, China". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "High Speed Rail".
  17. ↑ "European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS)". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "ITnews: Ansaldo wins Rio Tinto automated rail deal". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  19. ↑ "Bloomberg: Company Overview of Ansaldo STS USA, Inc.". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  20. ↑ "Ansaldo STS CBTC". Bloomberg.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Railway Gazette: Riyadh university metro contracts signed". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  22. ↑ "Railway-technology: Brescia Driverless Metro System, Italy". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  23. ↑ "Reuters: Ansaldo STS gets 220 mln euro order for Taipei metro". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  24. ↑ "Honolulu Driverless".
  25. ↑ "Dispatching".
  26. ↑ "Optimizing Traffic Planner".

External links