Contact Us        FAQ        Glossary         What is ERTMS ERTMS Factsheets News Projects Deployment Statistics Members Area   News   ERTMS discussed during high-level Conference in Prague 18/02/2009 Prague, 18.2.2009 – One of the most significant European conferences focusing on the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) took place in Prague on 18 February. The participants confirmed the main objectives and tasks of a common European railway strategy to enhance the competitiveness of rail freight transport. The conference was organised by the Czech Ministry of Transport, currently holding the EU Presidency, together with the Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC) and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER). European integration demands a fully-functioning European railway transport system working without limitations and time losses, in particular at border crossings. The existence of approximately 20 various train control systems on European railways is currently the biggest obstacle for a free movement of international trains. The European Union is trying to enhance the competitiveness of rail transport through an interoperable trans-European railway system. In 1995 the European Commission first defined a strategy for ERTMS development, before in 2005 the ERTMS railway corridors A to F were determined. The railways as an environmentally friendly transport mode should become an alternative to congested roads. They have to, however, provide customers with a reliable, high-quality and safe travel path. In order to enhance the railways’ competitiveness in freight transport in particular, it is thus important to develop a European railway network equipped with ERTMS, as was underlined during the conference by Ing. Jan Komarek, Director General of SŽDC: „From the legislative perspective the ERTMS project has been clearly defined and in terms of technical aspects there is implementation in progress in all respective states. The Czech Republic is progressively dealing with the deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System, both at the level of infrastructure and vehicles. ERTMS is regarded as significant by the Czech Republic because it helps enhancing the safety level, the speed and the traffic-carrying capacity of railway transport, maintaining economically important positions within transit transport, helps advancing the Czech railway industry, and last but not least eases access for vehicles of Czech railway carriers to the network of neighbouring railways. SŽDC has been actively involved in meeting EU priorities in the railway field, the biggest priority of which is building technically integrated interoperable railways. ERTMS is considered a useful tool to accomplish this objective. In the field of ERTMS deployment, SŽDC has become the initiator of the ETCS Corridor E project together with international partners. Corridor E represents a traditional connecting line between Germany and Austria, Hungary and Romania and is undoubtedly one of the most significant European axes“. The ERTMS conference was held under the auspices of Mr Přemysl Sobotka, President of the Senate of the Czech Parliament. At the event, which for the first time publically described the state of the art of all six European ERTMS corridors, including their control structures and construction timetables, he said: „The whole ERTMS corridor project has a strong European dimension: it requires European cooperation of relevant projects at the level of the European Commission. The approach of railway organisations in the Czech Republic towards the ERTMS system implementation is active as is also the support by State administration bodies. It involves coordination of many actions not only inside relevant member states but also mutually among the member states. There is no room for prioritising national interests“. By the end of 2007, originally separate national systems were replaced by ERTMS on more than 2,000 km of European tracks. In the future, ERTMS is planned to be deployed on more than 20,000 km. The European railway organisation CER supports the development of rail freight corridors in Europe. According to a CER study by McKinsey on the development of rail freight corridors, investments of EUR 145 billion by 2020 could increase the capacity of rail transport by 72% on the six ERTMS-based rail freight corridors, representing 34% of the volumes transported in Europe. The modal share of rail could be increased from 17% to 23%. Such investments in rail infrastructure would eventually lead to a strengthening of combined transport, said Johannes Ludewig, CER Executive Director: „Looking at the capacity needed to absorb the forecasted growth in freight transport over the next decade, flexible corridors for long-distance rail transport have to be developed as the backbone of a European transport network. With more than 50% of rail freight being cross-border traffic, establishing high quality international corridors for freight requires that EU member states better coordinate their national investments plans. We believe that efficient high-level coordination on national level is needed for necessary progress in rail infrastructure improvements, making it most essential to get all transport ministers along a certain corridor together to discuss the issue. CER has promoted the idea of high-level ministerial corridor conferences since 2007, a first conference is envisaged in cooperation with the Czech EU Presidency in April 2009.“ ENDS Source: CER website: http://www.cer.be/index.php?option=com_publications&task=view&id=1849&Itemid=71 The presentations are available on the SZDC website: http://www.szdc.cz/conference/