Intelligent Supervision and Railway Performance: Automatique & Industrie’s Expertise at the Heart of the Val’Tram Project

Intelligent Supervision and Railway Performance: Automatique & Industrie’s Expertise at the Heart of the Val’Tram Project

Intelligent Supervision and Railway Performance: Automatique & Industrie’s Expertise at the Heart of the Val’Tram Project

A Next-Generation Tramway for the Aubagne Area

Eight years after the inauguration of the Aubagne tramway — the shortest in France, with just 2.8 km of track — the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area is thinking big. The Val’Tram project represents an ambitious extension of more than 16 km, now connecting five municipalities: Aubagne, Roquevaire, Auriol, La Destrousse and La Bouilladisse.

Ultimately, nearly 15,000 daily passengers will benefit from this modernized and interconnected network, operated by the Régie des Transports Métropolitains (RTM).

But beyond the brand-new tram vehicles and modern platforms, one essential element ensures the safety, reliability and smooth operation of the entire system: technical supervision. And this is precisely where Automatique & Industrie comes into play.

A Highly Technical Mission

As part of the Val’Tram project, Automatique & Industrie was entrusted with a key role: the modernization and extension of the tramway network’s supervision system.
A mission combining software engineering, industrial automation, and in-depth expertise in railway systems.

More specifically, our teams carried out a complete upgrade of the Centralized Technical Management (CTM) supervision system, migrating the existing solution from PcVue 10 to PcVue 16.1, while integrating new communication protocols (Modbus TCP/IP, Profinet, and OPC UA).

This change goes far beyond a simple technological upgrade: it lays the groundwork for the transition to a smarter, more interoperable and secure network, capable of communicating in real time with multiple subsystems, including:

  • Railway signaling

  • Energy management

  • Video surveillance

  • Public address system (Vox@Net solution)

  • Access control and intrusion detection

When Supervision Meets Innovation

To ensure service continuity and reliability, Automatique & Industrie designed a redundant hardware architecture, comprising multiple physical and virtual servers capable of automatically switching over in the event of a failure.
This setup guarantees 24/7 supervision, an absolute requirement for a transport network in continuous operation.

Our engineers also redesigned the ergonomics of the supervision interfaces, particularly the Aubagne station view, to provide operators with a smooth, visual, and intuitive working environment.
Every animation, variable, and control logic was reworked to ensure safety, performance, and clarity: more than 140 logical equations now govern the interactions between tramways, signals, and track sections.

The introduction of a shared interlock system — a “token”-based mechanism preventing simultaneous commands — perfectly illustrates this approach: operational safety and ease of use can go hand in hand.

Collaboration and Field Engineering

On site, our engineers carried out the commissioning of the new supervision system at the tramway maintenance center in Aubagne, while also training operators and maintenance teams in its use.
Beyond software development, this support phase embodies our vision: placing technology at the service of people and territories.

Focus on the Extension: 11 New Stations, 6 Power Substations and 3 Supervised Tunnels

The second phase of the project, scheduled for commissioning in October 2025, builds on this solid foundation to integrate:

  • 11 new stations along 16 km of track,

  • 6 new power distribution sites,

  • 3 fully supervised tunnels dedicated to safety and intrusion detection.

This extension represents nearly 7,000 additional supervised variables (out of a total of 13,000), including 5,000 SIGF variables in OPC UA and more than 1,000 Profinet-connected devices.

A true challenge in terms of integration and performance, which the teams at Automatique & Industrie are meeting by combining technical rigor, a system-level approach, and strong field expertise.

Engineering at the Service of Intelligent Transport

The Val’Tram project perfectly illustrates the vision of Automatique & Industrie:

  • designing scalable, reliable and interoperable supervision systems,

  • supporting the modernization of transport infrastructures,

  • and contributing to the transition toward smarter and more sustainable mobility.

From signaling to energy management, from cybersecurity to the operator experience, our teams design solutions that combine technology and usability, reliability and agility, performance and sustainability.

Because beyond controllers and protocols, it is above all a human and technological journey, serving a territory in motion.

The Project at a Glance

  • Project: Val’Tram – Aubagne tramway extension
  • Client: RTM / Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolitan Authority
  • Automatique & Industrie Mission: Upgrade and extension of the CTM supervision system – signaling, energy management, public address system and intrusion detection
  • Software: PcVue 16.1 – OPC UA / Profinet / Modbus
  • Commissioning: October 2025