IRSE Sept 08.indd

MASS TRANSIT TRAIN CONTROL
IRSE
Energy Demand and Supply. Fossil based
energy sources will diminish and society will need
to change its attitude to energy use. Public
transport demand is expected to rise and
alternative sources of energy (fuel cells, bio fuels,
solar cells, etc) will be needed to satisfy demand,
perhaps unlocking other modes of transport. Rail
transport, particularly mass transit, will be more
favoured by both politicians and the general
public, with its ability to use electric traction
generated from environmentally friendly sources.
Technology Change. Rail industry technology
and methodology is largely a closed sector, but
increasingly new players with new technologies
and knowledge will impact on rail engineering. The
aviation, automotive, IT and defence industries
spend vast sums on R&D, which should create a
raft of opportunities for rail to deliver improved
performance at a lower cost.
It is a myth that the signalling sector has a
monopoly in safety critical systems. Many other
industries work in safety critical areas and are at
the forefront of delivering the associated
technology. New rail systems take too long to
design, approve and deliver and the cost of
systems is way above what the Infrastructure
Manager / Train Operator is willing to pay. The
final customer (passenger) is not directly aware of
the cost of signalling and control systems but the
fare box element cannot be ignored.
So, what else will the future bring?
Some of the trends are already visible. The
growing cost of developing new technologies is
forcing customers and suppliers into a joint effort
to deliver systems with increased performance and
enhanced functionality at a lower price, in a
shorter time and to a previously agreed budget.
Co-operation between suppliers and customers
is growing as the challenges of new developments
cannot be solved by individual parties in the
sector.
System standardisation and the introduction of
new players into the market will be part of this
process. New modes of transport are forcing a
rethink of operational strategies as a way of
overcoming the limitations of old infrastructure.
Driverless systems seem to be the trend for
increasing capacity at a lower cost. It is happening
already but it will be fascinating to see how this
trend continues into the next 20 - 30 years.
People must not take the current way of doing
things for granted.
If we compare the rail sector with what has
happened to society in the years since the
introduction of the microprocessor in the mid
seventies, then we could think that we are moving
fast.
That is an illusion: it will certainly move much
faster than today.
Rail supply industry welcomes cross-sector
Agreement on ERTMS deployment
UNIFE, the European Rail Industry, welcomed the signature of a
Memorandum of Understanding for the speeding up of the deployment
of the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS)
across Europe, on Friday 4 July 2008 in Brussels.
The ERTMS Memorandum of Understanding, whose signatories
are the European Commission, the railway associations, including
UNIFE, and the GSM-R industry, aims at setting mutual commitments
to deploy ERTMS in Europe. In particular, the text relates to
the harmonisation of operational rules, tendering, future technical
developments and other key measures that will ease ERTMS deployment
across Europe.
“This Memorandum of Understanding paves the way for the swift
deployment of ERTMS along the European corridors”, said Michael
Clausecker, Director General of UNIFE. “The supply industry will live
up to its commitments and we anticipate our counterparts will be
equally enthusiastic. The time is right to invest seriously in reducing
the migration period towards ERTMS. This will replace the more
than 20 diverging signalling systems in use across Europe that is
hampering the competitiveness of the European rail sector.”
ERTMS is a major industrial project developed by six UNIFE members
– ALSTOM Transport, Ansaldo STS, Bombardier Transportation,
Invensys Rail Group, Siemens Mobility and Thales – in close cooperation
with the European Union, railway stakeholders and the GSM-
R industry.
The components of ERTMS are ETCS (European Train Control
System) and GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications-
Railways).
ERTMS itself provides automatic train protection, issues safe
movement authorities and advises the driver on appropriate speeds
at all times. Trains fitted with ETCS may run on ERTMS-equipped
lines, which bring considerable benefits in terms of interoperability,
maintenance costs savings, safety and traffic capacity. By making
the rail sector more competitive, ERTMS helps to level the playing
field with road transport and ultimately provides significant environmental
gains.
There are currently more than 30 000 km of tracks and
5000 vehicles in service or contracted to be equipped with ERTMS
in 27 countries worldwide.
IRSE
NEWS Issue 137 September 2008 7