From edition to edition, InnoTrans, the largest railway transport fair, has gained in the number of participants who launched new products and technologies necessary for a more performing transport system. The fair’s surface in 1996 was 4.525 square metres and now measures 112,000 square metres. The number of exhibitors also increased from 172 companies in 1996 to 2,950 companies in 2016. At the Outdoor Display, 123 rolling stock units (including locomotives) were exhibited on lines with a total length of 3.5 km. This year, the share of non-European exhibitors increased to 22%, the most significant increase being that of companies from Asia and Australia.
One of the most debated topics this year, as well as a significant share of products, focused on the importance of digitalisation of the industry and services, the main topic of the opening ceremony being “Mobility 4.0”. European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said she would support the rail system approach on innovation and technology development and “digitalisation should be thought at European instead of national level, as national markets are too small to build digitalisation”, sad Bulc. For example, according to the commissioner, ERTMS implementation is an important element in digital development. Regarding the ERTMS implementation, the fourth MoU was signed between the European Commission, ERA and rail organisations: CER, EIM, EPTTOLA, ERFA, the ERTMS Users Group, GSM-R Industry Group, UIC, UNIFE and UNISIG. The agreement will formalise the integrated management process for implementation of ERTMS in Europe. “I call for the industry to provide compliant and affordable equipment so that ERTMS equipped vehicles shall be able to freely circulate on the entire European network,” Violeta Bulc said. The new MoU will set the framework for the legal and technical regulation of the trains equipped with the latest ERTMS version to travel on any line compatible with an acceptable performance level. Also, the agreement considers the results of the Longer Term Perspective initiative, as well as ERA’s new attribution, as authority for this system within the Fourth Railway Package.
Germany’s minister of transport and digital infrastructure, Alexander Dobrindt, said the digitalisation is the answer to create a single and efficient transport system and the financing of project is, therefore, a must. “Railway transport is an innovative sector and will be the key to the development of the entire transport system. To maintain this characteristic, it is necessary to allocate investments which obviously support innovation. The railway system will enter a new phase, that of “Mobility 4.0” and in the digital era of railway transport”, said Alexander Dobrindt.
This year, Germany announced its commitment to allocating investments in the digitalisation of rail transport. The country will allocate EUR 5 billion by 2020. Projects include investments of signalling solutions such as ETCS, electronic switch points, systems for increasing the capacity of trains on the network etc. A news that circulated worldwide was Deutsche Bahn’s announcement of its intention to operate automated trains. By 2021, DB could have part of the network that would allow the operation of such trains, the pilot project being already launched on the lines in Ore Mountains, near the Czech border. “Digital technology is not a revolution, but an evolution,“ CEO of DB, Rüdiger Grube said.
by Pamela Luica
Share on:
