ERTMS Regional. For a safe and cost-effective railway

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1 ERTMS Regional For a safe and cost-effective railway

2 From a future perspective railways provide an opportunity with many points of impact. In order to offer competitive cross-border passenger and freight transport, the EU decided in 1996 to introduce a standardised traffic control system on the European railways. The system is known as ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) and comprises three levels. Depending on various individual requirements, ERTMS Levels 1, 2 or 3 will be introduced in all EU countries with the objective of being able to operate over the entire railway network without constraints due to differences between the specific systems of each country. The various Levels in brief Level 1 Comparable to a conventional system. Level 1 has optical signals, track circuits and balises along the line. The balises contain information on speed and movement instructions, as well as other necessary information. The track circuit checks that the line is free from obstacles and that the train is complete. Balises as position marker Level 2 The optical signals are no longer necessary. All basic information is obtained via GSM-R. The signals transmitted to the locomotive are always up-to-date. The balises are only used to update the locomotive s position information. The trackside circuit is similar to Level 1. The information on upcoming speeds and gradients enables the driver to plan his driving better and to travel at a more optimised speed. Level 3 Same as level 2 but the check for train completeness is done on board thus making track circuits no longer necessary. Balises as position marker 2

3 ERTMS Regional increases safety, capacity and flexibility.

4 The Västerdal Line in Dalarna is the first section of railway to be equipped with ERTMS Regional.

5 ERTMS Regional a Level 3-system Sweden has chosen Level 2 as the main system and a number of lines are to be equipped in accordance with a timetable extending to For low density lines where traffic control is still performed manually, so-called TAM lines, Sweden is planning instead to install ERTMS Regional which is a Level 3 system. What is a TAM Line? About one fifth of the Swedish rail network consists of TAM lines, that is lines with very old systems. Safety on TAM lines is delivered by manual means rail traffic controllers who at the line stations manually set the points and set the system to drive state. Announcements of a train approaching the station and approval to send the train on to the next station are made by normal telephone contact. No further safety provisions are installed along the track, which places high demands on the traffic controller with regard to dependability of information. E CTC F G ETCS onboard equipment antenn B RBC+interlocking = TCC C D A How the system works From the Traffic Control Centre (A) the traffic controller requests a train path from one location to the next. The interlocking (B) sets the points (C) and verifies that the requested path is free from obstacles. The interlocking reserves the required path and notifies the Radio Block Centre (B) that the movement authority may be issued to the train. The Radio Block Centre sends the movement authority via GSM-R radio (F) to the locomotive s onboard system (G) and a message on the driver s screen confirms that the train may proceed. The antenna of the passing locomotive activates a balise (D) which sends a message to the onboard system, which in turn updates the train s kilometre counter. Subsystem, ERTMS Regional Adjacent system A) Operating system (CTC): The remote traffic controller receives information on the status of points and train movements on the monitor screens and can operate the points and reserve train paths. B) Integrated interlocking & RBC server (TCC): Each ERTMS Regional line has a central computer system which manages the conditions for safe operation on the line. The equipment communicates via radio (GSM-R) or a fixed transmission network with the locomotive, operating system, hand units and track equipment. C) Station objects, in particular all points and road crossing barriers, are controlled and monitored by trackside equipment located in kiosks and at the stations. D) Balises: Eurobalises or tansponders are located at intervals along the track and their main purpose is to update the train s kilometre counter. Only fixed coded balises are used. E) Hand units: Maintenance personnel working in the track area use hand-held units to close off the work area. F) Transmission system: The sub-systems can communicate with each other via various telecoms transmission systems using both fixed and radio-based networks. G) Onboard System: All trains operating on ERTMS equipped lines must be fitted with an ERTMS onboard system.

6 What are the benefits of ERTMS Regional? Västerdal Line first with ERTMS Regional Lower Operation Costs Employment costs will diminish as remote control reduces manpower requirements. Furthermore maintenance requirements will diminish with the Level 3 system as trackside equipment will be virtually absent, which will obviously yield lower maintenance costs. The Swedish Rail Administration has studied in detail the investment costs required for system replacement and as an interim target has established that the system should cost no more than 50% of the cost of a conventional solution. The Level 3 system therefore includes as few components as possible, ensuring that only the investment costs need to be considered and that the repayment period is short. Sweden is the first country to introduce ERTMS Regional. The Västerdal Line, between Malung and Repbäcken in Borlänge, is a TAM line and has been designated by the Swedish Rail Administration as a suitable pilot line. The Västerdal Line has no through-traffic and the number of vehicles is limited to 10 per day a typical example of a low density line with aging technology. Overall the Västerdal Line has just the right characteristics required in order to acquire valuable experience during this introductory stage. It is estimated that the Västerdal Line will be operational by Autumn Increased Safety Safety shortfalls can often be attributed to human factors. With the protection against human error and the monitoring functions which the system provides, ERTMS Regional offers increased safety compared to the present-day manual traffic control. Increased Capacity By upgrading to ERTMS Regional, railway lines which currently have manual traffic control benefit from considerably increased capacity. Trains can call at unmanned stations for example and several trains can occupy the same line between two stations simultaneously. This leads to potential increases in traffic density and quicker through-flow. Luleå Increased Flexibility In contrast to the present TAM lines, which require personnel as soon as a train passes a station, the new system enables traffic to be monitored via the traffic control centre throughout the day. This means that train traffic can continue at all hours of the day and night, with quick changes of plan when required, without having to plan on the basis of personnel availability. Umeå Östersund Ånge Sundsvall Borlänge Västerås Uppsala Hallsberg Stockholm Uddevalla Göteborg The Västerdal Line is 134 km long, has 5 stations, 33 level crossings and is trafficked by 16 trains per day. Östersund Helsingborg Malmö Ånge Borlänge

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8 Cross-border exchange of experiences for continuing development ERTMS Regional is the result of international collaboration within the UIC (International Union of Railways) which started in The Regional system has been developed from the specifications worked out to meet the requirements for a traffic control system for low density lines. Banverket is the first railway administration to have used this specification to procure development and installation of ERTMS Regional. About one fifth of the Swedish Rail Administration s railway network comprises TAM lines with aging systems and high maintenance costs percent of the European railway network has aging systems comparable to the Swedish TAM lines. From a Swedish perspective it is hoped that the newly gained experience may also be applicable in those countries facing similar requirements. Cross-border exchange of experiences may also simplify the processes and therefore bring the EU countries closer to the objective of a standardised traffic management system. The pink sections are low-density lines which constitute 21% of the Swedish railway network. July 2009, Bangalore, Henningssons tryckeri Swedish Rail Administration Phone: ertms@banverket.se