In January 2017, the European Commission announced the latest objective on the implementation of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). New deadlines were set as initial ones could no longer be observed and the geographical scope was extended from 6 corridors to the 9 Core Network Corridors, under the TEN-T Regulation.
There are 30 different signalling systems across the European railway network causing most interoperability problems at borderlines. The ERTMS system is vital for interoperability and for the establishment of a single network. Consequently, the European Commission has become part of and continues to stimulate the implementation of the system to meet the objective of establishing a single railway system where interoperability plays a crucial role. The deployment plan was adopted in 2009 defining the 6 ERTMS Corridors that accounted for the highest freight traffic level (10 years ago). The deadlines for the implementation of the European Deployment Plan were 2015 and 2020, which means that a significant part of these corridors should have been completed by now, but the Commission said “this is unfortunately not the case”. Based on the information received by EC from the member states, ever since 2013, it was estimated that these deadlines could not be observed because of financial problems, the limited number of qualified experts and the technical problems that might have occurred during the deployment. Although there are results, as of 2014 the adoption of new deadlines has become mandatory. Also, geographically, the deployment plan was aligned to the requirements of the TEN-T Regulation and the 6 initial ERTMS Corridors were extended to 9 Core Network Corridors. In the same year, Karel Vinck, European ERTMS Coordinator, initiated the review of the initial deployment plan and launched a series of consultations with member states, associations etc.
At the beginning of the year, the European Commission adopted a regulation of implementation of the new European Rail Traffic Management System European Deployment Plan (ERTMS EDP). Under the plan, by 2023, 50% of the Core Network Corridors will have to be equipped and in the same year, the ERTMS European Deployment Plan will be updated again setting the precise implementation data of remaining corridors that should occur between 2024 and 2030. The new deployment plan will facilitate investments and the deployment resources of companies and of infrastructure managers. “The European Rail Traffic Management System or ERTMS makes a direct contribution to the competitiveness and the safety of European railways. The deployment plan adopted provides for a phased implementation along the European rail network, bringing us closer to a fully interoperable single European rail area, where trains can more easily travel across borders,” Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said.
The adoption of the new plan is the result of consultations and negotiations with member states carried out by Karel Vinck over the past two years. “All Member States have accepted ERTMS as the signalling system in Europe. It is ready to be implemented from a technical point of view and through implementing the recently adopted deployment plan we can ensure the timely deployment of ERTMS,” Vinck said.
As part of the Addendums, EC analysed each corridor setting the ERTMS implementation deadlines for each section that links main points (for each country).
ERTMS projects in some states
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in September 2016 by the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and railway organisations (CER, EIM, EPTTOLA, ERFA, the ERTMS Users Group, GSM-R Industry Group, UIC, UNIFE and UNISIG), a document aimed to make official an integrated management process for ERTMS deployment in Europe. This MoU takes into consideration the Longer Term Perspective initiative, the amendments which might occur within the railway digitalisation process and ERA’s new competences, according to the Fourth Package.
Obviously, the involved parties plan to accelerate the deployment of ERTMS and the countries have ambitious projects for the deployment of the system. The fact is that EU member states accepted the ERTMS as the European signalling system and projects are to be implemented in conformity with EU requirements.
Within the EU, several countries have expressed their intention to implement the ERTMS on their whole network. Germany and France are working to create strategies to accelerate the deployment of ERTMS on national networks. The Cohesion countries are also implementing ERTMS deployment projects: the Czech Republic and Slovenia have plans to implement the system, while Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia will equip a significant part of the railways part of the Corridors by 2023.
Denmark updated the ERTMS implementation plan, setting 2023 as final deadline, on all mainlines of the network. EUR 2.6 billion will be invested to implement the latest Baseline 3 specifications, on lines totalling 3,000 km.
Belgium began the implementation of the system in 2009 on the high-speed links connecting Brussels to Aachen (border with Germany) and from Antwerp to the border with the Netherlands. The accident in Buizingen convinced the authorities to implement ERTMS on the entire railway network, more specifically on 3,500 km of railways with an investment of EUR 2 billion.
The Netherlands has recently updated the ERTMS deployment plan according to which all international lines and the large sections of the network will be equipped by 2030. EUR 2.3 billion are available to equip the infrastructure and adapt the rolling stock. At present, Netherlands’ network is 10% equipped with the ERTMS (Betuweroute, Havenspoorlijn, HSL-Zuid, Hanzelijn, Amsterdam – Utrech line) and 20% of trains are adapted to the new system. In 1999, Luxembourg decided to deploy the ERTMS, the network safety and wear being the main factors for equipping 300 km of lines and the rolling stock. The project deadline is 2017 and costs are estimated at EUR 70 million.
Italy has been investing in the ERTMS deployment on high-speed lines since 2000, but also on the rest of the railways. Spain also decided to implement the system almost at the same time with Italy, with the main objective of implementing the ERTMS on the high-speed lines. So far, a significant share of Spain’s HSR network is already equipped.
Over 2009-2013, Austria invested EUR 80 million in equipping the infrastructure.
by Pamela Luica
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