23.11.2009: BG is Part the ERTMS Expert Group Called On by the European Commission

The General Directorate for Transports and Energy (DG-TREN) of the European Commission pays close attention to this topic, so do the representatives of the industry (UNIFE), of rail operators (CER) and of the infrastructure managers (EIM).

Invited by the European Rail Agency (ERA), Guillaume de Tilière participated in the workshop together with experts from the Swiss OFT, the German DB, the French SNCF and RFF, RFI, Prorail and CEDEX.
 
During this meeting chaired by K. Vinck, European coordinator for the rail corridors, and M. Verslype, director of the ERA, the expert group defined several priority axis and key actions to be implemented to succeed in the deployment of the European rail corridors.
The proposals will be screened up until February 2010, when a second meeting will take place. At that time, a formal document will be drafted and summed up by the EC. The stakeholders, namely ERA, UNIFE, CER, EIM, will then be asked for approval.
 
Homologation, cross acceptance as well as harmonisation of signalling procedures were also part of the discussion, so were the aspects related to testing capacity and procedures mainly for the new ERTMS standard, both 2.3.0 D and 3.0.0 versions.
 
A few words about ERTMS:

The European Rail Traffic Management System is an essential point for the achievement of rail interoperability and European corridors. The topic is of high political interest at the level of the European Commission and the Member States.
More about it: contact Guillaume de Tilière or visit www.ertms.com