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HIGH PERFORMANCE SIGNALLING | Doc Frank Heibel

Does ETCS need a supply strategy?

First of all, welcome dear reader to my column about “High Performance Signalling”. I hope you find these articles insightful and instructive and will do my best to give you premium “food for thought” as well as practical and applicable advice. Yet it is prudent to add this…

Disclaimer: Any individual or business decision you may make based on the content of this article is solely and fully your own responsibility, and you cannot under any circumstance hold me, my business, or the publisher of this newsletter responsible for any consequences of such decisions.

Coming to today’s topic, I am specialised in two technologies for High Performance Signalling: CBTC, the Communications-Based Train Control system, and ETCS, the European Train Control System. I found that when it comes to performance-enhancing varieties of ETCS, they become more and more similar to CBTC. It is therefore that when I study something for one of the two technologies I also check the relevance to the other.

I first came up with the concept of a supply strategy for CBTC. The reason why I believe a supply strategy is needed before starting the introduction and later rollout of CBTC is the lack of interoperability between CBTC products from different ‘mainstream’ suppliers such as Alstom, Hitachi, Siemens, or Thales. That means a train fitted with onboard CBTC from one supplier cannot operate on CBTC wayside infrastructure delivered by another supplier. (There are exceptions, but this might be for a future article.) This lack of interoperability has consequences for planning the deployment of CBTC, and that planning needs to be done before starting implementation. That’s where the supply strategy fits in.

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HIGH PERFORMANCE SIGNALLING | Doc Frank Heibel

Managing a Supplier Pool for ETCS

Disclaimer: Any individual or business decision you may make based on the content of this article is solely and fully your own responsibility, and you cannot under any circumstance hold me, my business, or the publisher of this newsletter responsible for any consequences of such decisions.

In my last column, I wrote that the ideal way of introducing the European Train Control System (ETCS) for a real interoperable outcome is to start with two trackside suppliers, give each of them one pilot project, and have them jointly develop the ETCS specification for your particular application.

Starting with more than two suppliers will increase the complexity exponentially without much improvement in the outcome, so the additional effort is not really worth it.

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HIGH PERFORMANCE SIGNALLING by Doc Frank Heibel

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Article by Doc Frank Heibel, June 2024

Does ETCS need a supply strategy?

First of all, welcome dear reader to my column about “High Performance Signalling”. I hope you find these articles insightful and instructive and will do my best to give you premium “food for thought” as well as practical and applicable advice. Yet it is prudent to add this…
 
Disclaimer: Any individual or business decision you may make based on the content of this article is solely and fully your own responsibility, and you cannot under any circumstance hold me, my business, or the publisher of this newsletter responsible for any consequences of such decisions.
ask the doc | doc frank heibel

First of all, welcome dear reader to my column about “High Performance Signalling”. I hope you find these articles insightful and instructive and will do my best to give you premium “food for thought” as well as practical and applicable advice. Yet it is prudent to add this…

First of all, welcome dear reader to my column about “High Performance Signalling”. I hope you find these articles insightful and instructive and will do my best to give you premium “food for thought” as well as practical and applicable advice. Yet it is prudent to add this…

First of all, welcome dear reader to my column about “High Performance Signalling”. I hope you find these articles insightful and instructive and will do my best to give you premium “food for thought” as well as practical and applicable advice. Yet it is prudent to add this…

First of all, welcome dear reader to my column about “High Performance Signalling”. I hope you find these articles insightful and instructive and will do my best to give you premium “food for thought” as well as practical and applicable advice. Yet it is prudent to add this…

First of all, welcome dear reader to my column about “High Performance Signalling”. I hope you find these articles insightful and instructive and will do my best to give you premium “food for thought” as well as practical and applicable advice. Yet it is prudent to add this…

ARTUR'S CORNER | Artur Wolnica

Railway Interoperability on European Tracks

In the European Union in 2020, rail transported around 1.4 billion tonnes of freight and 4.2 billion passengers. These numbers represent the magnitude of importance of the railway in the transportation sector. They would not be achieved if not for the robust engineering of the signaling systems.
Trains are usually intended to operate on different railway lines, corridors, and various countries, many times including cross-border sections, which require multiple pre-conditions to be met. These conditions, put together, allow for seamless transportation for passengers and transport of goods.
While it is in the passengers’ interest to commute effortlessly, it is on the engineering side to design safety-related systems that properly communicate with each other and exchange information. In advanced signaling systems like the European Train Control System (ETCS), the backbone of efficient and robust systems is interoperability.

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A WORD FROM AN AUTHOR | Ivan Ristić, M.Sc.E.E.

Stay tuned, stay informed, and let's embark on this journey together!

In the vast world of railway transportation, signaling, and telecommunications hold a special place. Behind every smooth journey and timely delivery lies a complex and fascinating network of signaling and telecommunications systems. These systems ensure safety, efficiency, and seamless communication across our rail networks.

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