Italy sets out 500 million tender for ERTMS in 5 regions
Italy’s railway manager RFI will roll out ERTMS on 3,400 kilometres of railway network by 2026, and published a tender for this. Italy has included the infrastructure upgrade in their plans for Covid-19 recovery funds from the EU. 3 billion euros is earmarked for installing ERTMS.
RFI has selected the regions Abruzzo, Sicily, Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio to be upgraded to the ERTMS train control system next. The tender is the first step of the technological projects financed by the the coronacrisis recovery measures of the European Union, part of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The tender includes installing ETCS Level 2, digital communication system GSM-R, amongst other things. It also includes Light and Motive Force (LFM) systems, as well as their certification and integration to track-side subsystem level, ensuring the interface both with the pre-existing track-side subsystems and with four different types of ERTMS on-board subsystems.
Now also regional lines
Up until now, Italy installed ERTMS on high-speed lines, but it will now be extended to the regional lines as well. RFI notes that this will have a positive effect on the landscape thanks to the elimination of the signaling systems that today line the tracks.
The main objective is to support modal shift from road and air to rail, increasing rail capacity and connectivity and improving the quality of service along key national and regional connections, including by strengthening cross-border connections.
The advantages of ERTMS
The European Rail Transport Management System promotes interoperability between railway operators from different countries and improves performance, allowing the passage of a greater number of trains and contributing to greater punctuality. Through the information exchanged between the ground and on-board subsystem, it is possible to follow the running of the train at every moment.
The train driver receives all information necessary for driving, with the activation of the emergency braking in the event that it does not all parameters are met or the train speed exceeds the permitted speed. The infrastructure manager aims to install the system on all 16,700 kilometres of line.
Read more:
