ERTMS - European Rail Traffic Management System
In a global economy, rail’s ability to absorb an ever-growing transport demand will play a key role in positioning the sector as a competitive alternative to road transport. In the meantime, rail transport suffers from the existence of 20 different signaling systems throughout Europe, all inherited from the past. These are the major obstacles to rail’s competitiveness.
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), as a universal and EU-compatible signaling system, is an innovative technical solution designed to deal with a growing transport demand and also to improve the capacity on railway lines. With more than 30,000 km of contracted railway tracks, out of which nearly 50% outside of Europe, it has now established itself as a global standard.
By equipping its network with ERTMS, a country becomes available to any train fitted with the ERTMS onboard equipment. In the long term, equipping pan-European corridors with ERTMS will greatly improve the competitiveness of rail transport, as trains will only need one signaling system to cross borders.
The full benefits of ERTMS in terms of interoperability, safety and performance can only be realized if national investments are coordinated along a given international corridor. Cross-border connections and strategic coordination under the EU umbrella are more than desirable. To this end, a European ERTMS deployment plan was adopted in July 2009.
For more information, please contact:
Emmanuel Brutin
Public Affairs Manager
+32 2 626 12 68
UNIFE Links
To access the ERTMS website please click here
To access UNIFE’s ERTMS brochure please click here
To access UNIFE’s ERTMS fact sheet please click here
External Links
To access the EC’s Press Release on the ERTMS Memorandum of Understanding please click here
To access the EC’s Press Release for on the European ERTMS deployment plan please click here
To access the European ERTMS Deployment plan (as published in the EU Official Journal) please click here
To access the European Railway Agency’s documents on interoperability please click here
To access the EC’s decision on technical specification for interoperability please click here
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