Currently, there are over 20 train control systems in Europe. The implementation of ERTMS systems which also include the European Train Control System (ETCS) will enable the creation of a single European network and will contribute to improving railway transport quality, especially by increasing operational speed. Installing ERTMS/ETCS systems is a première for many East-European countries, such as Romania which is currently developing the implementation of signalling equipments compatible with the ERTMS standard on Bucharest-Constanta line within the modernisation programme of Corridor IV. The only projects for the implementation of the on-board ETCS systems have been cancelled and there are no financing means to resume them.
An ETCS Level 2 project was initiated in May 2009 with CFR Marfă as the beneficiary. In May 2009, the national freight operator launched a project within the ERTMS standard implementation programme on the Romanian network. The programme was financed by the European Union and consisted in the ETCS on-board implementation on two locomotives. The whole project was worth EUR 2 Million. The agreement was signed by CFR Marfă following the conclusion of the technical-financial study ordered by CER and assisted by CFR Marfă on the feasibility of implementing such a system. The European funding will be ensured with the help of Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-TEA). The programme priority is to ensure interoperability on corridors IV and IX. The introduction of this system at border crossings is also considered. To this end, the Romanian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI) is currently discussing the opportunity with the profile institutions in Hungary and Bulgaria. The ETCS ensures an optimal control of train speeds without permitting overspeeding, locates the train and watches its integrity.
Mihai Manole, Locomotive Manager CFR Marfă, declared that this programme is suspended because the state hasn’t allocated any funds (budget subsidies for the project development) and nobody knows if the project will be resumed giving the current credit shortage as result of the economic crisis.
Another ETCS Level 2 project called “Technical assistance for surveying the design and execution works of the operational pilot project for the application of ETCS Level 2” was made public on December 30, 2009 and aimed at installing the ETCS on a 37-km long sector of electrified double line, Brazi-Buftea, part of Corridor IV and managed by CFR SA. The project would have created an opportunity to test the system and evaluate its effects for a potential implementation of the ETCS on the entire railway network in Romania. CFR is project partner and could supply the locomotives. The contract was estimated at EUR 2.4 Million and should have been implemented in 60 months since the attribution of the contract. The project is financed within the SOP-T. The attribution criteria would have been the offer price (20%) and technical proposal (80%).
On-board ETCS eliminates the necessity of fixed signalling equipments
The ERTMS standard was developed by the most important electronic system suppliers for railway transport Thales, Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens, Ansaldo STS and Invensys, in collaboration with many European authorities and research institutes. According to the system capacity and operation support, the ETCS has different levels. Currently, Romania has only ETCS Level 2 systems which consist in the implementation of modern control and signalling equipments by preserving, at the same time, the old national standard, a process aimed at increasing the traffic security level. Correlating the ETCS track equipments with ETCS on-board equipments is included in the ETCS Level 2 standard which still awaits to be implemented in Romania. By using the ETCS Level 2, the engine driver receives all signalling and traffic safety information he needs directly on board displays. Therefore, the traditional track signalling equipments can be eliminated resulting in energy savings and smaller management and maintenance costs. This technology is entirely based on digital systems, controlled by microprocessors and electronic circuits and tends to replace the old signalling equipments in Europe.
by Alin Lupulescu
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