CEOs of rail infrastructure companies in Europe agree that ERTMS deployment commitments must be respected

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM) see the deployment of ERTMS/ETCS as a single signalling standard across Europe as being jeopardised by some actors who try to renege on their promises. This was stressed at the CER/EIM High Level Infrastructure Meeting (HLIM) on 30 May in Paris. Both associations highlighted that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the strengthening of cooperation for the management of ERTMS, on 16 April 2012 together with the European Commission, the European Rail Agency and other stakeholders. The infrastructure managers of both organisations support EU funding for their customers to install ERTMS on-board.

Hubert du Mesnil, President of EIM, reconfirmed the high commitment of the independent infrastructure managers represented by EIM to deliver ERTMS as per their agreed national deployment plans. “Achieving ERTMS deployment across EU Member States would definitely be a major step in the removal of technical barriers and the creating of a fully interoperable European Network” highlighted Hubert du Mesnil.

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman emphasised: “There is no future for ERTMS in Europe if the deployment does not continue in a coordinated manner. There is a high risk that ERTMS will not bring the desired value of interoperability if not all European countries respect their commitments. We also expect suppliers working intensively to reduce the costs of the system to make the ERTMS installation economically viable.”

“Full and complete implementation of the European Deployment Plan is a key prerequisite for the competitiveness of the entire European rail sector. If one party withdraws its commitment, the entire EU rail sector will lose. The EU Institutions should neither grant nor accept any exception”, declared EIM Vice President Luc Lallemand.

ERTMS stands for “European Rail Traffic Management System” and will offer a common standard for train control equipment across Europe.