Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 1. Europe's challenge is to substitute more than 20 signaling and ATP systems
by just one single system, ETCS, in order to provide border crossing interstate rail
transit in all over the European Union.
which is part of the “European Rail Tra
c Management System” (ERTMS),
consisting of ETCS, GSM-R, a cab radio system based on the GSM public
standard enhanced by certain rail specific extensions and the “European Traf-
fic Management Layer” (ETML). Legacy ATP or so called “Class B” systems
are supposed to be phased out within the next decades.
1.2
ETCS: A new Challenge for Europe's Railways
Before launching the ETCS program, national operational rules for the rail-
way operation were very closely linked with the technical design of the signal
and train protection systems. That is going to change radically with ETCS.
One single technology has to serve several different sets of operational rules
and even safety philosophies.
The experience of Deutsche Bahn AG after German reunification has
made very clear that it will take several years or even decades to harmonize
operational rules in all over Europe. Even under nearly ideal conditions (one
language, one national safety board and even within one single organization)
it was a slow and laborious process to convert different rules and regulations
back into one set of unified operational rules. After 40-years of separation into
two independent railway organizations (Deutsche Reichsbahn in the east and
Deutsche Bundesbahn, west), it took almost 15 years for Deutsche Bahn AG
to get back to one single unified signaling handbook for the entire infrastruc-
ture of what is today DB Netz AG.
Therefore, it seem unrealistic to assume that there will be one set of op-
erational rules for all ETCS lines in all over Europe any time soon (Which
does not mean that these efforts should not be started as soon as possible,
