International Railway Journal - October 2008 - (Page 36) Left to right: Mr Hansjörg Hess (SBB), Mr Karel Vinck (EU), Mr Toni Eder (BAV) and Mr Eduard Wymann (BLS/Neat) stand beside the SBB locomotive celebrating Switzerland’s successful operation of 10 million train-km with ETCS Level 2. ETCS problems. In comparison, 0.7% was due to operator problems and 0.6% to delays or missed paths. The 34km Lötschberg tunnel is single track for two-thirds of its length, and this is the biggest problem, says Wymann. It means that the tunnel is already operating at capacity with 100 to 110 trains/day. Switzerland’s adoption of ETCS is part of its strategy to transfer freight from road to rail, particularly on the busy transalpine routes. The Swiss also want to ensure they have seamless links with the rest of the European highspeed railway network. As Mr Toni Eder, vice director of BAV in charge of infrastructure, points out, Switzerland’s pioneering work with ETCS is not just for Europe but is also a case of “enlightened self-interest”. On a European scale, Vinck says ERTMS - of which ETCS is a part - was developed to avoid having to work with 20 different speed control systems and 17 train radio systems all over the continent. There are seven different signalling systems in the cab of a Thalys train, for example, and freight operators in particular are unwilling to have so many systems in a locomotive due to the high cost and complexity. “It is not just a question of efficiency, but also client satisfaction,” he emphasises. Progress is being made: today over 2000km of track in Europe is controlled by ERTMS, there is a high level of satisfaction among users, and interoperability is being achieved through various projects. But Vinck says there are still technical incompatibilities between projects, with some manufacturers performing better than others. The factors driving the development of ERTMS are the existence of obsolete national systems that need to be replaced, and the construction of highspeed lines. But a third driver is the need to achieve interoperability along European rail corridors. This obviously cannot be done all at once, which is why it was decided to first concentrate ERTMS on six corridors covering 6% of the total European rail network and 20% of total freight traffic. The aim is to ensure coordination of operations at an early stage and increase capacity. First priority The first priority is Corridor A between Rotterdam and Genoa: targets for 2020 are to double the volume of freight, improve punctuality by 26% and reduce transit times by 20%. The second priority is Corridor C between Antwerp and Lyon/Basle, where the 2020 objectives are to increase traffic by 55%, reduce transit times by 15%, and achieve a four-fold reduction in the number of late trains on the Antwerp Lyon route, which is notorious for delays. On July 4, the European Commission (EC) signed a letter of intent with six European associations representing railways and the railway industry for a fast-track implementation of ETCS. This will be followed this autumn by the draft of a binding plan for the introduction of ETCS, to be drawn up by the EC. As Vinck points out, there is no longer any discussion of whether ETCS should be developed as the standard train control system in Europe: it has already been accepted. IRJ 36 IRJ October 2008
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