What benefits will the new ERTMS signalling bring?
Passengers will enjoy improved punctuality, increased capacity and shorter trips on some lines. By 2030, we expect to double the number of passengers and reduce delays by 80%. In addition, we will have a more safer and better controlled network with real-time information and more economical maintenance. In short, there are only advantages!

What are the major challenges of the Signalling Program with regard to ETCS?
Although a priori it seems simple because there are only two suppliers involved and the network seems small compared to other European networks, this is the first project that will put ETCS Baseline 3 into operation. On the other hand, most of the lines under renovation currently have commercial operations that must be maintained. This means that both the installation work and the track test phases have to be planned very early, around six months prior to the work, in order to interfere as little as possible in the commercial operation.

What systems are affected by the renovation?
In addition to the new signalling (new points, axle counters, interlockings, GSR-M, RBC, etc.), other programmes are being carried out on some lines, such as the catenary installation or civil engineering activities. The entire fleet of commercial and freight trains will be also upgraded.

We plan well in advance to avoid affecting commercial activity

Is it complicated to adapt to high speed?
The topology of the existing lines is not the most appropriate for the implementation of high speed. On many of them there are a large number of level crossings, crossings for pedestrians or cattle, etc. All this requires a large number of people and organizations involved to ensure safety during testing. For example, until the level crossings are fully tested, police presence may be required during the tests to ensure that no vehicles cross the road.

What is the main objective of the JTL?
The Joint Test Laboratory is designed to run the largest number of tests prior to on-site testing, and minimize the risks and the cost of the field testing.

Who uses the JTL and what kind of tests are performed?
The suppliers –Alstom and Thales– and the SP testing department are the ones that work in the JTL. The suppliers are responsible for demonstrating the integration of their subsystems (e.g., RBC, IXL, and TMS), while BDK is the final integrator and is therefore responsible for end-to-end testing to demonstrate the behaviour of all of the subsystems together. In addition to functional and integration testing, much emphasis is placed on operational testing, i.e. how the end user (a driver or operator) uses the system.

In 2012, Banedanmark launched its Signalling Programme (SP) that includes the renovation of the entire railway network in its territory. The commitment to technology, which will mean replacing all the existing equipment and systems, was approved by the Danish Parliament in 2009 and will involve an investment of around 2.5 billion Euros. With the introduction of this new signalling system, the Danish government expects to be able to increase the performance and quality of its rail operation and serve around 70 million passengers by 2030.

The signalling system to be installed is ERTMS level 2 in version 3.4.0 of Baseline 3. This is the European rail traffic management system promoted by the European Commission, which is being implemented on the nine core network corridors of the Union. Its objective is to establish a common language throughout the European railway network, a project that brings significant improvements in railway operation, allowing the internal and cross-border traffic of all trains with greater capacity, improved safety and lower costs. Since 2015, Ineco has been in charge of the supervision and monitoring of the ERTMS deployment plan on the European core network corridors until 2020 (see IT53, IT59).

196 test cases and two pilot lines

Spain has 2,150 kilometres of railway lines equipped with the ERTMS system, including 656 kilometres with level 2 ERTMS. Ineco and CEDEX’s extensive experience and technical knowledge of ERTMS has made it possible for Banedanmark to rely on the Spanish entities to develop the test specification of this system for the Danish track application.

In compliance with Banedanmark’s operational requirements, Ineco and CEDEX produced 196 generic test cases that test the ERTMS functions to be implemented in the lines. In addition, they have designed the operational scenarios for the two pilot lines (EDL EAST and EDL WEST) equipped by Alstom and Thales, respectively. These indicate the specific location in the infrastructure at which the developed test cases will be carried out. A test scenario is a sequence of test cases that reproduce a series of situations that a train could encounter on a journey along a line. They reproduce situations ranging from nominal conditions, such as a commercial traffic at maximum speed, to severely degraded situations that simulate the different failures that may occur in the equipment and its interfaces. These test cases and scenarios are applicable for both on-site and laboratory tests.

Ineco has developed close to 200 test cases for the ERTMS Level 2 application that is going to be deployed in the railway network in Denmark between 2018 and 2023

During the month of July, Ineco carried out a first test campaign in the JTL laboratory (Joint Test Laboratory) created by Banedanmark as part of its renewal programme. This laboratory has both simulated and real equipment (RBC, on-board equipment, GSMR and GPRS connection, signalling control point, control centre interface and even a level-crossing). In terms of software, the same versions installed on the track are installed in the laboratory, so many of the functional tests can be performed more comfortably.

Laboratory tests provide a number of advantages over field testing. On one hand they do not have to interrupt the existing commercial traffic, they do not require real trains, and involve fewer personnel. All of these factors reduce campaign times, and consequently the cost, of the test phase within the processes to commission infrastructure or trains on a specific infrastructure. Consequently, the objective is to replace as many field tests as possible with laboratory tests, reducing field tests to a minimum. In this sense, the test campaign carried out by Ineco allowed the verification of the real possibilities that the laboratory can provide to reproduce the different situations that may occur in the normal operation of the trains on the track.

The current support contract for the Danish railway signalling programme includes other activities such as developing validation infrastructure strategies for the upcoming lines to be put into operation. This is the definition of the subset of test cases to be performed, depending on whether or not it is a new type of train to be put into operation on an already operational track, or if, on the contrary, it is the same type of train that will run on a new track but one that is designed with the same principles as an infrastructure that is already in operation.

Banedanmark intends to upgrade its infrastructure from the current ERTMS version 3.4.0 to 3.6.0 which is already available in European specifications. Ineco will also support the update of the test specifications to this new version.