European Rail Traffic Management System
ERTMS logo
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| Formation | 1998/1999 |
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| Website | www |
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is an initiative backed by the European Union to greatly enhance safety, increase efficiency of trains and enhance cross-border interoperability of rail transport in Europe by replacing signalling equipment with digitized mostly wireless versions and by creating a single Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems.
The two main components of ERTMS are the European Train Control System (ETCS), a standard for in-cab train control, and GSM-R, the GSM mobile communications standard for railway operations. The equipment can further be subdivided between on-board and infrastructure equipment.
Companies developing ERTMS systems include UNIFE/UNISIG members Alstom, Thales, AŽD , Ansaldo STS, Siemens Mobility, Bombardier Transportation, CAF and MERMEC. Additionally, there is one emerging Japanese supplier.
Companies that provide testing solutions for ERTMS systems include: Comtest Wireless
In October 2010 a logo was adopted for ERTMS, which oversees ETCS, an upright orange rectangle with rounded edges. The lower third shows "ertms" in lower-case sans-serif typeface, the upper two thirds 12 wide beams converging to a point on the right side, with two of the beams coming from the bottom, starting above the "e" and "s".
Various railway signalling roll out strategies can be used for deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System. With the introduction of ERTMS the infrastructure manager has to decide whether a line will be equipped only with ERTMS or whether a mixed signalling system is the better solution. Currently, both 'clean' and mixed systems are being deployed in Europe and around the world.
Many new ERTMS lines in Europe are being created and then it may often be preferred to implement ERTMS Level 1 or Level 2 only. With this implementation strategy the wayside signalling cost is kept to a minimum, but the vehicle fleet that operates on these lines will need to all be equipped with ERTMS on board to allow operation. This is more suitable for new high-speed passenger lines, where new vehicles will be bought, less suitable if long-distance freight trains shall use it. Examples of 'clean' ERTMS operation include HSL-Zuid in the Netherlands, TP Ferro international stretch (Sección Internacional / Section Internationale) Figueres [ES] – Perpignan [FR], among others. Also all ERTMS railways in Sweden and Norway since the ERTMS and ATC balise frequencies are too close so that older trains would get faults when passing Eurobalises.
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Wikipedia