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Charles R Page Manager, Marketing & Sales

Westinghouse Signals Australia

The latest signalling technology about to reach the market is the European Rail Traffic Management System-ERTMS.

The European Union (EU) has mandated ERTMS as the system that must be adopted by all European railways for all new high speed lines. Soon it will also be a legal requirement for all new conventional lines throughout Europe. As existing conventional lines are upgraded, they are also expected to migrate to the system. It seems likely that ERTMS will soon dominate the signalling of Europe and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Although it was developed in Europe with the backing of the EU, other railway administrations around the world are also considering ERTMS for their ATP and Cab Signalling needs. Significant interest has been shown in parts of Australia and some trials are being proposed.

This paper discusses ERTMS and some specific issues that it raises for Australia.