Ansaldo STS USA has signed a contract with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to replace an existing interlocking on its Silver Spring Station.

The interlocking upgrade is the first step of a new WMATA effort to refurbish its existing system with a seamless transfer, hot standby MicroLok II interlocking controller for vital and non-vital functionality.

The project incorporates several “firsts” for WMATA, including the use of metal housing structures in place of constructed rooms, a distributed RTU (Remote Terminal Unit) arrangement, the first piece of fiber optic-connected vital communications and the use of LCD local control panels.

“This upgrade represents WMATA’s commitment to quality service for their customers,” said Dr. Alan E. Calegari, president and CEO of Ansaldo STS USA, “and we are proud to be selected as a partner to help them achieve their goal.”