In a consortium together with the Cofely-Fabricom (GDF SUEZ) infrastructure development company, Siemens is to equip more than 2,200 track kilometers of the Belgian railway network with the ETCS European Train Control System, Level 2. The order was placed by Infrabel, the Belgian railway infrastructure operator. The order volume for the consortium is worth about 510 million euros. The ETCS European Train Control System constitutes an essential component for the merging of European railway traffic. It is designed to replace the more than 20 national automatic train protection (ATP) systems on the European continent and enhance network safety and capacity. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2025. The contract includes installation of the ATP system and the electronic interlocking equipment.
“This order underscores our leading position in the field of automatic train protection systems,” commented Jochen Eickholt, Head of the Mobility Division at Siemens. “Siemens has already successfully installed ETCS Level 1 for the Belgian railways.” The ETCS European Train Control System Level 2 uses the railway-specific GSM-R mobile radio system to ensure a permanent two-way radio connection between the vehicle and trackside. This not only makes continuous speed monitoring possible, it also means that new movement authorities can immediately be transmitted to the vehicle and all relevant information is displayed to the driver in the driver’s cab. Siemens is currently equipping lines in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey and Hungary with this highly automated system.
Original source: Siemens
