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Concept
European Rail Traffic Management System
Summary
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the organisational umbrella for the separately managed parts of
GSM–R (communication),
European Train Control System (ETCS, signalling),
European Train Management Layer (ETML, payload management)
The main target of ERTMS is to promote the interoperability of trains in the EU. It aims to greatly enhance safety, increase efficiency of train transports and enhance cross-border interoperability of rail transport in Europe. This is done by replacing former national signalling equipment and operational procedures with a single new Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems.
The development process was started with the technical foundations for communication (GSM-R) and signalling (ETCS). Both are well established and in advanced public implementation worldwide. Now it begins to start attention for the 3rd part of ETML i.e. for fleet management or passenger information.
In the mid-1980s, the International Union of Railways (UIC) and the European Rail Research Institute (ERRI) began the search for a common European operation management for railways, titled ERTMS. Today the development of ERTMS is steered by the ERA and driven by the Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE, Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes).
Until this effort began, there were (for historical reasons in each national railway system) in Europe:
More than 20 different train protection systems,
Different, conflicting rail operating rules,
Different national homologation rules for vehicles,
Different accreditation rules for drivers,
Five different railway electrification systems,
Missing, different or inoperable communication systems to driver cabs,
Different national languages,
Different measuring systems (Metric System, Imperial units),
Right- and left-hand traffic organisation,
Rail gauge differences on main lines in peripheral countries (Iberian Peninsula, Ireland, Russian broad gauge),
Different railway coupling mechanisms by countries or rolling stock type,
all influencing train communication in parts.
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