As the adoption of the new TEN-T regulations by the EU Parliament sinks in, more points relevant to rail freight should be addressed. Those include, among other things, the deployment of ERTMS and the new deadlines set for this purpose.
There has been much buzz around these two topics, especially regarding ERTMS deployment. Many companies have been criticising the EU, saying there is no cohesion between different countries deploying different levels of ERTMS.
At the same time, much criticism has also focused on the fact that the EU targets mainly the trackside deployment of ERTMS, overlooking the aspect of on-board ERTMS deployment and the complications and costs it involves for companies.
The TEN-T amending document does not address those issues clearly and focuses on ERTMS deployment, mostly on rail infrastructure, while introducing stricter deadlines. At the same time, the question remains: is there a clear strategy for on-board implementation and financing?
New deployment deadlines
In an attempt to make ERTMS deployment more ambitious and time-effective, the EU decided to introduce a new deadline for its deployment on railway tracks. The legal document reads, “Member States should ensure that the ERTMS is deployed on the comprehensive network by 2050, on the extended core network by 2040 and on the core network by 2030”.
Simultaneously, the deadlines for the decommissioning of Class B systems are also revised: decommissioning should occur at the latest, at the end of 2040 for the core network, at the end of 2045 for the core extended network and at the end of 2050 for the comprehensive network.
The amended legislation, however, does not clarify how companies should retrofit their assets for new ERTMS levels. This concern has also been highlighted by the industry association ERFA, which has stated that there’s a need “for a coherent and business-friendly strategy for on-board ERTMS deployment and financing to achieve a seamless transition to ERTMS and the phasing out of class-B systems. As mentioned earlier, a business-friendly strategy is still to be found.
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