A CORE TEAM of signal engineers assembled in Zürich on January 17 charged with drafting common railway requirements for standardised interlockings. This is the second of five projects that should see life cycle costs reduced significantly by 2005 through the standardisation of interfaces and functionality. This in turn is expected to open up the procurement of signalling equipment within Europe, which is currently constrained by differing national standards.
The Euro-Interlocking project was launched by the UIC on January 1 1999. Project 1 (preparation) has been completed, and finance from the 15 participating railways secured last November has allowed Project 2 to proceed. The Core Team should complete its task by the end of this year, liaising with signalling suppliers and national rail safety bodies. Project 3, system development by industry, is scheduled to begin in January 2001.
