Rail sector and Commission sign landmark MoU on ERTMS deployment

On 20 September, in the framework of the InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin, the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Railways, and the rail sector organisations (CER, EIM, EPTTOLA, ERFA, the ERTMS Users Group, GSM-R Industry Group, UIC, UNIFE and UNISIG) signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for ERTMS. The MoU formalises high-level objectives and principles supporting ERTMS deployment in Europe.

The adoption of this MoU and the second release, earlier this year, of the Baseline 3 specification shape a solid foundation supporting the technical convergence of ERTMS and thus ensuring the early availability of a fully interoperable signalling system in Europe. While Authorities should organise efficient authorisation processes, it is now down to the ERTMS users and suppliers to engage in a strict management of compliance and compatibility. The recently formed ERTMS stakeholder platform will supervise the implementation of the MoU and guide the roadmaps that will ensure a quick convergence and a high added value with ERTMS.

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman commented: “This Memorandum of Understanding is a key milestone in the definition of a comprehensive migration path for ERTMS in Europe. The challenge is now to make the deployment of ERTMS affordable, to ensure that it can be easily implemented and to drive effective and timely value for each European ERTMS user. Transparency and inclusion of all the actors are more than ever essential to achieve technical and economical certainty. Clear leadership and precise roles are a key success factor to achieve timely progress and therefore will now have to be prioritised.”