EU Railway Agency director speaks at SpoorPro ERTMS Congress

European ERTMS head De Bosschere: ‘There is a concrete plan, that makes me happy’

Jo de Bosschere
Jo de Bosschere, here in his time at Infrabel, is the head of ERTMS at ERA Benjamin Brolet/Infrabel

European Union ERTMS director Jo De Bosschere is looking forward to SpoorPro’s ERTMS Congress on October 22. “Nice to meet all my Dutch friends in the rail sector again,” he says. “Even more so now that we have a nice topic to elaborate on together: the recalibrated roll-out of ERTMS in the Netherlands. I see that as a very positive thing.”

RailTech’s sister publication SpoorPro, based in the Netherlands, spoke to De Bosschere back in June after his performance at the European Union Agency for Railways’ (ERA) annual ERTMS congress in Valenciennes. On that occasion, the Fleming stated his hope that the Netherlands would one day move from thinking to doing. Now he can’t help but smile. “Behold! There is a concrete plan again. The first tranche of the recalibrated roll-out is known, as well as the pilot section. And within those plans is the Kijfhoek-Belgian border section. That makes me happy.”

De Bosschere is delighted to travel to Amersfoort in a fortnight’ time, to engage with the entire Dutch rail community on the roll-out of ERTMS in Europe. “I see excellent developments,” he says. “Not only in the Netherlands, also in other countries. I think it could all get another big boost once Matthias Ruete – European Coordinator for ERTMS and TEN-T – starts working with his national ERTMS coordinators. These will be appointed before the end of this year. That’s going to move everyone forward.”

The ‘Head of the ERTMS and Telematics Applications Unit’ at the European Union Railway Agency, as his exact job title reads, sees that the rollout of ETCS is getting off to a slow start. ‘It is very different,’ he says. ‘This is also because of the very different circumstances of the countries and their rail areas. And the choices countries face. In some countries, something really had to be done in terms of train safety, because there were simply too many accidents. You see that action has been or is being taken more quickly there. In other countries, like the Netherlands, that need is not as high.’

When De Bosschere has the stage, he says what he thinks. He still has a lot to share, for example about TSI CSS and cybersecurity in combination with ERTMS. But we’ll save that… for the congress!

Be there

If you also want to contribute ideas, have your say and ask all of your pressing questions to the leading figures of the European and Dutch ERTMS programme, make sure you are there on 22 October, at the Eenhoorn in Amersfoort. There are still some places available, so register soon! Please note the event is in Dutch.

This article originally appeared on SpoorPro.nl.

Author: Jeroen Baldwin

Jeroen Baldwin is journalist for Dutch sister publication SpoorPro.nl

Add your comment

characters remaining.

Log in through one of the following social media partners to comment.

European ERTMS head De Bosschere: ‘There is a concrete plan, that makes me happy’ | RailTech.com
EU Railway Agency director speaks at SpoorPro ERTMS Congress

European ERTMS head De Bosschere: ‘There is a concrete plan, that makes me happy’

Jo de Bosschere
Jo de Bosschere, here in his time at Infrabel, is the head of ERTMS at ERA Benjamin Brolet/Infrabel

European Union ERTMS director Jo De Bosschere is looking forward to SpoorPro’s ERTMS Congress on October 22. “Nice to meet all my Dutch friends in the rail sector again,” he says. “Even more so now that we have a nice topic to elaborate on together: the recalibrated roll-out of ERTMS in the Netherlands. I see that as a very positive thing.”

RailTech’s sister publication SpoorPro, based in the Netherlands, spoke to De Bosschere back in June after his performance at the European Union Agency for Railways’ (ERA) annual ERTMS congress in Valenciennes. On that occasion, the Fleming stated his hope that the Netherlands would one day move from thinking to doing. Now he can’t help but smile. “Behold! There is a concrete plan again. The first tranche of the recalibrated roll-out is known, as well as the pilot section. And within those plans is the Kijfhoek-Belgian border section. That makes me happy.”

De Bosschere is delighted to travel to Amersfoort in a fortnight’ time, to engage with the entire Dutch rail community on the roll-out of ERTMS in Europe. “I see excellent developments,” he says. “Not only in the Netherlands, also in other countries. I think it could all get another big boost once Matthias Ruete – European Coordinator for ERTMS and TEN-T – starts working with his national ERTMS coordinators. These will be appointed before the end of this year. That’s going to move everyone forward.”

The ‘Head of the ERTMS and Telematics Applications Unit’ at the European Union Railway Agency, as his exact job title reads, sees that the rollout of ETCS is getting off to a slow start. ‘It is very different,’ he says. ‘This is also because of the very different circumstances of the countries and their rail areas. And the choices countries face. In some countries, something really had to be done in terms of train safety, because there were simply too many accidents. You see that action has been or is being taken more quickly there. In other countries, like the Netherlands, that need is not as high.’

When De Bosschere has the stage, he says what he thinks. He still has a lot to share, for example about TSI CSS and cybersecurity in combination with ERTMS. But we’ll save that… for the congress!

Be there

If you also want to contribute ideas, have your say and ask all of your pressing questions to the leading figures of the European and Dutch ERTMS programme, make sure you are there on 22 October, at the Eenhoorn in Amersfoort. There are still some places available, so register soon! Please note the event is in Dutch.

This article originally appeared on SpoorPro.nl.

Author: Jeroen Baldwin

Jeroen Baldwin is journalist for Dutch sister publication SpoorPro.nl

Add your comment

characters remaining.

Log in through one of the following social media partners to comment.