SelTrac is a digital railway signalling technology used to automatically control the movements of

rail vehicle The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can be ...

s. It was the first fully automatic moving-block signalling system to be commercially implemented. SelTrac was originally developed in the 1970s by Standard Elektrik Lorenz (the "SEL" in the name) of Germany for the Krauss-Maffei Transurban, an automated guideway transit system proposed for the GO-Urban network in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

in Canada. Although the GO-Urban project failed, the Transurban efforts were taken over by an

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

consortium led by the

Urban Transportation Development Corporation The Urban Transportation Development Corporation Ltd. (UTDC) is a former State-owned enterprise, Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario, Canada. It was established in the 1970s as a way to enter what was then expected to be a bu ...

(UTDC), and adapted to become its Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS). This technology was first used on the SkyTrain network in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia and the Scarborough RT in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario. SelTrac was primarily sold and developed by Alcatel, through a subsidiary. SelTrac was then sold by

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

from their Canadian unit, after it purchased many of Alcatel's non-telephony assets. On May 31, 2024, Hitachi Rail completed the acquisition of

' Ground Transportation Systems (GTS) business, making SelTrac a product of

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

Description

SelTrac uses the twisted-loop concept developed by

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

in the 1950s. Data communication is provided with either low frequency inductive loop or a high bandwidth, open-standards wireless system incorporating spread-spectrum radio technology.

Installations

SelTrac is installed in many railways around the world, including the following: *

Ankara Metro The Ankara Metro () is the rapid transit system serving Ankara, the capital of Turkey. At present, Ankara's rapid transit system consists of three metro lines – the ''Ankaray (A1)'', the ''M1 - M2 - M3'' and the ''M4''. The Ankaray, M1, M2, M3 ...

Line M1 1997 SelTrac CBTC DTO *

Beijing Subway The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Direct-controlled municipality, Municipality that consists of 29 lines including 24 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and two light rail, light rail tram line ...

Line 4 2009 SelTrac CBTC/R (radio) ATO with Attendant * Busan–Gimhae Light Rail Transit 2011 SelTrac CBTC/R UTO * Detroit People Mover 1987 SelTrac CBTC UTO * Dubai Metro – Red and

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

Lines 2009/2011 SelTrac CBTC UTO *

Guangzhou Metro The Guangzhou Metro ( zh, s=广州地铁, labels=no) is the rapid transit system of the city of Guangzhou in the Guangdong Province of China. It is operated by the state-owned Guangzhou Metro Corporation and was the fourth metro system to be b ...

** Line 3 2009/10 SelTrac CBTC DTO ** Line 9 2017 SelTrac CBTC DTO ** Line 14 2017 SelTrac CBTC DTO ** Line 21 2017 SelTrac CBTC DTO * Hong Kong International Airport APM 2014/15 SelTrac CBTC/R UTO * Hong Kong

MTR The Mass Transit Railway system, known locally by the initialism MTR, is a rapid transit system in Hong Kong and the territory's principal mode of Rail transport in Hong Kong, railway transportation. Operated by the MTR Corporation (MTRCL), ...

** Tuen Ma line 2003 SelTrac CBTC DTO *** West Rail line 2003 *** Ma On Shan line 2004 *** Kowloon Southern Link 2009 *** Tuen Ma line (Phase 1) 2020 *** Tuen Ma line (full line) 2021 **

Disneyland Resort line The Disneyland Resort line () is a rapid transit line connecting Sunny Bay to the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, coloured pink on the network diagram. It is the seventh line of the former MTR network before the MTR–KCR merger, merger o ...

2005 SelTrac CBTC/R UTO * Hyderabad Metro Rail (Lines 1, 2, 3) 2017 SelTrac CBTC/R STO * Incheon Subway Line 2 2014 SelTrac CBTC/R UTO *

Istanbul Metro The Istanbul Metro () is a rapid transit railway network that serves the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Apart from the M11 line, which is operated by TCDD Taşımacılık, the system is operated by Metro Istanbul, a public enterprise controlled by th ...

M4 Kadikoy-Kartal Line 2012 SelTrac CBTC STO * Jacksonville Skyway ASE 1998 SelTrac CBTC UTO *

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...

AirTrain JFK AirTrain JFK is an elevated people mover system and airport rail link serving John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) in New York City. The driverless train, driverless system operates 24/7 service, 24/7 and consists of three lin ...

APM 2003 SelTrac CBTC UTO * Kuala Lumpur Rapid Rail ** Kelana Jaya Line 1998/2014 SelTrac CBTC UTO ** Ampang Line 2015 SelTrac CBTC/R DTO/UTO *

Las Vegas Monorail The Las Vegas Monorail is a automated monorail mass transit system located adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It connects several large casinos in the unincorporated communities of Paradise, Nevada, Paradis ...

2004 SelTrac CBTC/R UTO * London

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...

1995 SelTrac CBTC DTO ** Lewisham Extension 1999 ** London City Airport Extension 2005 ** Woolwich Arsenal Extension 2009 ** Stratford Extension 2011 *

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in east London, via the West End of London, West End, South Bank and London Docklands, Docklands. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the ...

2011 SelTrac TBTC STO **

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

2014 SelTrac TBTC STO ** Metropolitan,

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

, Hammersmith & City 2020 SelTrac CBTC/R STO * Mecca Metro 2011 SelTrac CBTC UTO *

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...

AirTrain Newark 1996/2001 SelTrac CBTC UTO *

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

** IRT Flushing Line 2016 SelTrac CBTC/R STO * Ottawa

O-Train The O-Train is a light rail system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system consists of three lines, all of which are fully Grade separation, grade-separated. As of March 2025, one line is currently being extended an ...

Line 1 2018 SelTrac CBTC/R STO * Paris Metro Line 13 – Ouragan 2012 SelTrac CBTC/R DTO * SFMTA Muni Metro ( Market Street subway) 1997 SelTrac CBTC DTO * Seoul Metropolitan Subway

Shinbundang Line The Shinbundang Line (; literally, ''New Bundang Line'') or DX Line for Dynamic Express Line is a long line of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. It is the world's fifth subway to run completely driverless and the second completely driverless metro ...

2011 SelTrac CBTC/R UTO *

Santiago Metro The Santiago Metro () is a rapid transit system serving the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. It currently consists of seven lines (numbered 1-6 and 4A), 143 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by the state-owned Metro S. ...

** Line 6 2017 SelTrac CBTC UTO ** Line 3 2019 SelTrac CBTC UTO *

Shanghai Metro The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 List of township-level divisions of Shanghai, municipal districts and to the neighb ...

** Line 6 2011 SelTrac CBTC/R STO ** Line 8 2011 SelTrac CBTC/R STO ** Line 9 2011 SelTrac CBTC/R STO ** Line 7 2010 SelTrac CBTC/R STO ** Line 11 2010 SelTrac CBTC/R STO * Singapore MRT ** North South line 2017/2018 SelTrac CBTC/R DTO ** East West line 2017/2018 SelTrac CBTC/R DTO * Tampa International Airport APM 1992 SelTrac CBTC UTO * Toronto rapid transit 2008/10 SelTrac Speed/Signal Safeguard **

Line 3 Scarborough Line 3 Scarborough, originally known as Scarborough RT (the SRT), was a medium-capacity rapid transit line that was part of the Toronto subway system of the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The line ran entirely within ...

1985 SelTrac CBTC DTO ** Toronto streetcar electronic track switching system * Vancouver TransLink SkyTrain ** Vancouver SkyTrain - Expo Line 1985 SelTrac CBTC UTO ** Vancouver SkyTrain - Millennium Line 2002 SelTrac CBTC UTO ** Vancouver SkyTrain - Canada Line 2009 SelTrac CBTC UTO ** Vancouver SkyTrain - Evergreen Line 2016 SelTrac CBTC UTO *

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

Monorail A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...

1989 SelTrac ATP Disney/TGI * Washington Dulles Airport AeroTrain APM 2009 SelTrac CBTC/R UTO *

Wuhan Metro Wuhan Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China. Owned and operated by Wuhan Metro Group Co., Ltd., the network now includes 12 lines, 312 stations, and 518 kilometres of track length. With 1.35 billion annual passe ...

Line 1 2004/10 SelTrac CBTC DTO

SelTrac Incidents

* 2019 MTR Tsuen Wan Line CBTC accident - no fatalities but two MTR staff sent to hospital for observations * 2017 Joo Koon rail accident - no fatalities but 38 injuries including 2 SMRT staff

References

External links

Official website

Moving Block Why do we Need It
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seltrac Railway signalling Rapid transit