European Rail Traffic Management System

The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is an EU-backed initiative to enhance cross-border interoperability and signalling procurement by creating a single Europe-wide standard for railway signalling.

The two main components of ERTMS are the European Train Control System (ETCS), a standard for on-board train control, and GSM-R, the GSM mobile communications standard for railway usage.

Companies

Companies developing ERTMS systems include Alstom, Thales, Invensys, Ansaldo Signal, Siemens and Bombardier. The equipment can be divided into on track gear and on train gear.

Timeline

2004

* December: Zaragoza - Huesca High Speed line in Spain opens with ERTMS Level 1.cite web |url=http://www.webmag.transport.alstom.com/eMag/externe/segment/sig/09_04/ertms/1/333.asp |title=ERTMS Level 1: Trackside on the Zaragoza-Huesca project |work=Alstom.com |date=September 2004 |accessdate=2008-07-04]

2005

* December: High Speed line Rome-Naples opens with ERTMS Level 2.

2006

* February: ERTMS-2 is extended to the new HS line Turin-Novara.

2007

* June: The Lötschberg Base Tunnel, part of the Swiss AlpTransit initiative, opens with ERTMS Level 2. [cite news | title=ERTMS: the view from the cab | publisher = "Railway Gazette International" | date=2007-11-15 | url = http://www.railwaygazette.com/features_view/article/2007/11/7889/ertms_the_view_from_the_cab.html | author=Chris Jackson]

* June: The Betuweroute, a new cargo line with ERTMS Level 2 between the port of Rotterdam and the German border opens for commercial traffic.

* June: The LGV Est from Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne) near Paris to Baudrecourt (Moselle) opens with ERTMS. It is an extension to the French high-speed TGV network, connecting Paris and Strasbourg.

2008

* December: An upgrade of the Cambrian Line will pilot ERTMS in the United Kingdom.

2009

* Summer: HSL-Zuid is a 125-km long high-speed railway line under construction between the Netherlands and Belgium that will use ERTMS.

* Autumn/Winter: opening of HS lines Novara-Milano, Milano-Bologna and Bologna-Firenze, thus completing the whole HS line Turin-Naples. [ [http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/ferrovie/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=65c2ecb4439ab010VgnVCM1000002f2af90aRCRD] ]

2010

* October: Botniabanan in northern Sweden is scheduled to open with ERTMS.

2011

* Start of the roll-out of ERTMS in the United Kingdom. [cite news | title=2017 start date for Great Western ERTMS upgrade | publisher = "National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers" | date=2007-10-09 | url = http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/10/2017_start_date_for_great_west.html | author=]

See also

* ETCS
* Eurobalise

References

External links

* [http://www.ertms.com/ What is ERTMS?] from UNIFE, the Union of the European Railway Industries.
* [http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/Interopandstandards/europeanstandardisation/ertms "ERTMS National implementation plan"] UK Department for Transport, September 2007
* [http://www.en.tav.it/1/default.asp?id=87&codice=1&codice1=003&codice2=001 "High Speed in Italy"]
* [http://www.era.europa.eu/public/core/ertms/Pages/default.aspx "European Railway Agency"]