Migration of the European Train Control System (ETCS) and the Impacts on the International Transport Market

Abstract

Currently approximately 20 different train control systems are in use in Europe. To reduce this number and thus to realise a cost effective and seamless cross-border railway operation ETCS will be implemented in the next years. Therefore the legislative preconditions in the form of EU directives 96/48/EG and 2001/16/EG have been established. Besides the political demand the optimal migration of this new technology will be a crucial condition for its success. The migration on the strategic level is described by 10 UIC corridors for the high-speed and conventional rail. Now each country has to find the optimal way for the migration of ETCS on particular corridors concerning the national railway network as well as the rest of the related corridor and the entire future ETCS network. At the Institute of Transportation Systems of the German Aerospace Center a methodical approach supporting this process has been developed. In order to face the complex multi-dimensional optimisation problem occurring related to the ETCS migration different operational, technical, political as well as economical aspect are to be considered. In this contribution the overall economical impacts, the consequences for individual stakeholders as well as the impacts on the transport markets will be highlighted and discussed. Based on the relevant system requirements coming from different stakeholders focussing the assessment of the Life Cycle Costs (LCC), migration strategies are to be developed and evaluated systematically. Especially the following issues related to the migration process will be regarded and analysed: Opportunities and threats of the ETCS migration related to the freight and passenger transport Impacts of the harmonisation and standardisation processes on the rail transport market Ensuring of the open access to the markets and the consequences The role of the transport policy and subsidies Finally the financing of ETCS with respect of the long term depreciation of the legacy systems and the impacts on the Infrastructure Managers and the Railway Operators will be discussed. Methodical framework for this contribution contains investment appraisal, multi-criteria analysis of the decision processes, life-cycle and market analysis as well as the requirements management. Whats new? The new aspect shown in this contribution is reflected in the consistent approach realising a multi-dimensional optimisation with focus on economical and operational criteria considering the relevant technical constraints and possibilities. The application helps optimising the migration process of ETCS and thus improving the cross-border freight and passenger rail traffic.