Statistics show that EU countries are gradually installing ERTMS on some of their train lines, countries outside Europe are also starting to embrace ERTMS as their train control system of choice. This is explained by the numerous benefits brought by ERTMS on top of interoperability.
Today, cross-border operations account for a major share of rail freight operators’ activities. The ERTMS facilitates cross-border movements whilst enhancing the reliability, quality and competitiveness of rail freight services in Europe. Investing in ERTMS today is a rational choice for freight operators. The system provides them with the guarantee of using a reliable high performance signalling system in the long term as the current legacy systems are being replaced by the common ERTMS standard.
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What are the advantages of a unique signalling system for freight operators? Due to the existence of several signalling systems in Europe today, freight locomotives have to be equipped with the appropriate signalling systems – and even in some cases they must be changed at the border, increasing costs and travelling times. As a unique signalling system, ERTMS provides the solution to the lack of interoperability of the existing rail networks in Europe.
Can ERTMS help improve freight operations’ performance? Indeed, besides interoperability, ERTMS offers advantages in terms of capacity, speed and reliability – three key components for successful rail operations. These advantages explain why nearly 50% of all ERTMS investments are made outside Europe, countries such as China, Turkey and Taiwan having already implemented the ERTMS to a large extent.
“A central element for the functioning of international freight corridors is the ERTMS. The track access charges can play an important role in encouraging infrastructure managers and train operators alike to invest in ERTMS equipped trains, a process that would speed up the market uptake significantly and increase the efficiency of freight corridors. The effectiveness of such financial incentives could be observed in the road sector. In Germany, the introduction of a heavy vehicle toll that depended on the EURO standard of the vehicle with more polluting heavy vehicles paying more than cleaner ones, led to a rapid market uptake of cleaner trucks. A similar effect could be expected for rail. That is why we support the Commission’s proposal for a 5% reduction of track access charges for ETCS equipped trains”, declared Michael Clausecker, the Director General of the Union of the European Rail Industries (UNIFE).
Already today ERTMS is used as a unique system on some crucial European freight routes such as the Betuweroute or the Lötschberg tunnel. Increasingly, passenger-lines equipped with ERTMS will be used for freight operations – for instance, in Italy, the use of High Speed lines for freight operations at night/off peak times is foreseen. In total, an estimated 17,000 km of railway tracks are already contracted to work with ERTMS in Europe, 5,000 km of which are already in operation.
As it ensures interoperability, ERTMS enables seamless traffic between countries. However, other obstacles may slow down cross-border traffic, such as operational rules or train certifications, which diverge from one country to the other. The European Railway Agency (ERA), the European railways and the rail industry are all working together on these issues which need to be further examined to allow the smooth and free movement of traffic between countries.
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