European Train Control System

[1] The need for a system like ETCS stems from more and longer running trains resulting from economic integration of the European Union (EU) and the liberalisation of national railway markets.

On 4 and 5 December 1989, a working group including Transport Ministers resolved a master plan for a trans-European high-speed rail network, the first time that ETCS was suggested.

The Class 1 specifications were revised in the following year leading to SRS 2.3.0 document series that was made mandatory by the European Commission in decision 2007/153/EEC on 9 March 2007.

Using SRS 2.3.0 a number of railway operators started to deploy ETCS on a large scale, for example the Italian Sistema Controllo Marcia Treno (SCMT) is based on Level 1 balises.

Current work continues on Level 3 definition with low-cost specifications (compare ERTMS Regional) and the integration of GPRS into the radio protocol to increase the signalling bandwidth as required in shunting stations.

[21] Deutsche Bahn has expressed a commitment to keep the Baseline 3 specification backward compatible starting at least with SRS 3.5.0 that is due in 2015 according to the streamlined MR2 process, with the MR1 adding requirements from its tests in preparation for the switch to ETCS (for example better frequency filters for the GSM-R radio equipment).

The first contract to run the full length of a cross-border railway was signed by Germany and France in 2004 on the high-speed line from Paris to Frankfurt, including LGV Est.

[1] The usage of moving blocks was dropped however while the system was implemented with just 256 balises checking the odometry of the trains that signal their position by radio to the ETCS control center.

Although interoperable according to TSI, implementations of Limited Supervision are much more diverse than other ETCS modes, e.g. functionality of L1LS in Germany is strongly based on PZB principles of operation and common signal distances.

The resulting proposal was distributed to the eight administrations that were identified: ÖBB (Austria), SNCB/NMBS (Belgium), BDK (Denmark), DB Netze (Germany), RFI (Italy), CFR (Romania), Network Rail (UK) and SBB (Switzerland).

Some kind of end-of-train device is needed or special lines for rolling stock with included integrity checks like commuter multiple units or high speed passenger trains.

It is possible to use train integrity supervision, or by accepting limited speed and traffic volume to lessen the effect and probability of colliding with detached rail vehicles.

ERTMS Regional has lower commissioning and maintenance costs, since trackside train detection devices are not routinely used, and is suitable for lines with low traffic volume.

[61] The first real implementation of the virtual balise concept has been done during the ESA project 3InSat on 50 km of track of the Cagliari–Golfo Aranci Marittima railway on Sardinia[62] in which a SIL-4 train localisation at signalling system level has been developed using differential GPS.

There is a pilot project "ERSAT EAV" running since 2015 with the objective to verify the suitability of EGNSS as the enabler of cost-efficient and economically sustainable ERTMS signalling solutions for safety railway applications.

[63] Ansaldo STS has come to lead the UNISIG working group on GNSS integration into ERTMS within Next Generation Train Control (NGTC) WP7,[64] whose main scope is to specify ETCS virtual balise functionality, taking into account the interoperability requirement.

A Radio Block Centre [de] is a specialised computing device with specification safety integrity level 4 (SIL) for generating Movement Authorities (MA) and transmitting it to trains.

GSM is no longer being developed outside of GSM-R.[citation needed] However, as of 2021, ERA expected GSM-R equipment suppliers to support the technology until at least 2030, however this may be extended further depending upon the availability and validation of a suitable replacement system.

The plan foresees 3,300 km of the Austrian railway network being equipped with ETCS by the end of 2038; the implementation devises 20 geo-redundant RBCs for centralised control.

The advertisement claims that the benefits for customers are safety, punctuality, climate action, better service on the countryside and “smarter” maintenance planning, meaning less and shorter times that the tracks are out of order for upkeep.

The interest resulted from new High Speed Lines (HSL) under construction, the development of the ports at the Atlantic and technically rotting national signalling systems.

But because of high costs for full implementation on rolling stock, it was chosen to select standard components from ETCS for interfacing locos (receiver) and rails (balises) to easy support existing infrastructure.

Following some serious accidents (i.e. Halle train collision) caused by missing or malfunctioning protection systems, there was the obvious target to raise the security level in the whole network.

[96] Alstom will be implementing ERTMS, including ETCS, in the upgrade of the commuter rail network of Toronto area regional operator GO Transit, under contract to the Ontario provincial agency Metrolinx.

December 2005 an ETCS train ran at 200 km/h (125 mph) as a part of the normal operation plan on the line north of Leipzig to obtain long-term recordings.

Further testing showed that a full ETCS system can increase capacity by 5-10% leading into a new concept "Zukunft Bahn" to accelerate the deployment, presented in December 2015.

In Hungary Level 2 is under construction on the Kelenföld-Székesfehérvár line as a part of a full reconstruction, and was planned to be ready before 2015, but due to problems with the installation of GSM-R, all of them are delayed.

[126] National Capital Region Transport Corporation has decided to equip European Train Control System (ETCS) on its Sarai Kale Khan hub in India's First Rapid Rail corridor Delhi-Meerut RRTS Route.

[150] In Poland, Level 2 has been installed as part of a major upgrade of the 346 km (215 mi) Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia line that reduced Warsaw – Gdańsk travel times from five to two hours and 39 minutes in December 2015.

[154] According to a Tender[155] put out by the infrastructure manager - PKP PLK, a part of the E30 railway between two major population centers - Katowice and Kraków - will be equipped with ETCS L2 signalling by 2027.