EUROPE: Responding to calls from the European Commission to accelerate the deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System, The Signalling Company and CAF Signalling have agreed to co-operate on the development of legacy onboard equipment for locomotives and rolling stock.
The Work Plan issued by DG Move’s ERTMS Coordinator Matthias Ruete earlier this year suggested that a rapid implementation of ERTMS was ‘a prerequisite’ for rolling out potential game changers in the European rail sector such as digital capacity management, satellite communication, automatic train operation, virtualisation and smart asset management.
However, the Work Plan also highlighted the current slow pace of ETCS introduction, noting that one key reason was the poor availability of Specific Transmission Modules that provide the interface between ETCS onboard equipment and legacy Class B signalling systems.
Other than countries such as Switzerland and Luxembourg which have prioritised the elimination of legacy technology from their relatively small networks, most countries require rolling stock to be dual-fitted during the migration phase.
The Work Plan demonstrated that it was more effective to provide dual-fitted locomotives and rolling stock able to operate over both ETCS and legacy equipped routes, rather than trying to fit substantial parts of the European rail network with two signalling systems. A dual-onboard strategy was found to offer the best prospects for accelerating ERTMS deployment as well as a better business case.
However, a dual-onboard strategy is dependent on the availability of Class B systems, which would potentially have a limited life before decommissioning. And Ruete also noted that there was a structural lack of capacity in the ERTMS Onboard supply market.
Under the ‘open co-operation’ agreement announced on December 4, the TSC joint venture of Lineas and ERTMS Solutions will work with CAF Signalling to develop Class B equipment that would enable both companies to provide dual-onboard systems for their customers, aiming to achieve both a reduced time to market and a competitive price. Both firms hope to have their initial efforts ready for demonstration at InnoTrans in September 2022.
The two suppliers emphasised that the initiative was open for other ETCS vendors, infrastructure managers and railway undertakings to participate, noting that discussions were already underway with a number of other suppliers.
‘Collaboration among competitors is a best practice well known in other industries’, explained TSC CEO Stanislas Pinte. ‘CAF Signalling and The Signalling Company remain competitors for their ETCS products, even though they will collaborate on the Class B systems.’
