Pilot Project ETCS in Czech Republic finished
The investor of this project is the Railway Infrastructure Administration, a state organization (RIA). Ing. Jiří Martínek from RIA Headquarters reminded in today formal finishing of the project that: „The pilot project Poříčany – Kolín included both the line part, consisting of non-switchable balises and a radio-block centre connected to existing signalling system, and also the equipment of two locomotives and of one electric unit with on-board parts of ETCS including the STM LS module, enabling the movement of such equipped vehicles on lines equipped only with the national train protection LS.“
The pilot project's section forms a part of the Transit railway corridor I (TŽK), Czech part of the European ETCS Corridor E, 22 km long, it is a double track with a line speed of 160 km/h, in the given section, there are three railway stations. The first project stage (by the half of 2006) concerned the specification of requirements for responses of the ETCS system implemented to conditions of railways in Czech Republic. It concerned first of all connecting of this complicated system, based on computing technology, to existing national systems of railway signalling equipments, with respect to operating rules. During the first stage of the project, an agreement was concluded between the supplier and investor, that the ETCS system, delivered within the pilot, will comply with the system specifications version SRS 2.3.0, required at that time by the European Commission for devices, which the European corridors ETCS will be equipped with.
The second stage was focused on the development and design of components enabling the connection of the system to the national signalling equipment and operating of this system in Czech conditions. The installation of the ETCS system hardware on the line section was finished in 2008 including activating of the Radio block centre (RBC). In the same time, there was finished the assembly of mobile components of the ETCS system on one locomotive, 362 series, on 1 locomotive, 151series, and on one electric unit 471/971.
The integration system tests and software modifications followed. The integration testing was, next to other conditions, necessary for beginning of the approval process. With regard to the system complexity, necessary integration testing, safety evaluation of the implemented system and making of the approval process in compliance with rules given by Directives of European Commission for the Interoperability, it was necessary to give all volume, upto finishing the pilot project, to problems of integration testing and system evaluation.
- Investor: Railway Infrastructure Administration, State Organization
- Contractor: Ansaldo STS (Italy)
- Subcontractor: AŽD Praha (Czech Republic)
- Realization Expenses: 10 744 757,00 €
- This project is co-financed by the EU from its Cohesion Fund. The EU contribution according to the Decision of European Commission is 7 350 000 EUR (75 % of allowable construction expenses).
- Date of Project beginning: July 2005
- Date of Finishing: September 2011
Results and experiences from the pilot project between Poříčany and Kolín has been applied within a public tender for the first construction of the ETCS system on the section Břeclav state boundary – Kolín, the realization of which should start at the turn of 2011/2012.
Next expansion of ETCS in CR:
By 2015, the CR prefers building of ETCS on the Transit railway corridor I, i.e. on the Czech part of the ETCS corridor E. It has been scheduled in two stages:
1st Kolín – Břeclav state boundary with Austria and Slovakia
2nd Kolín – Praha – Děčín state boundary with Germany
These constructions, which at the same time form a part of the Corridor E, which were approved by the European Commission within the program for development of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) and are co-financed by the EU in the amount of 50% of allowable expenses.
Jiří Dlabaja
Mobile phone: +420 606 650 834
E-mail: dlabaja.jiriMazd.cz