UK implementation and progress

Interoperability will grow by the progressive adoption of TSIs as the rail system is renewed or upgraded, and new assets are built.  Interoperability can be effectively achieved or built into enhancements only when a railway asset is at the design and build stages of its lifecycle.  This is why the Regulations are directed at new build, and at major work during the life of the asset which presents opportunities to increase standardisation.

The rail industry needs to engage with the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2006 whenever it is embarking on a project for new build, or upgrade or renewal of existing assets.  The Regulations establish a framework and set standards within which that project must be carried out.  They do not require the industry to undertake work purely for the purpose of delivering interoperability.

The Department is working with the railway industry to ensure that the UK Interoperability Implementation Plan will add commercial and technical value to the UK.  The review of the Interoperability Notified Body process will improve the efficiency of the third party assessment approach and methods to improve the drafting of Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI), and the flexibility of TSI derogation process, are under discussion with both the ERA and the European Commission.

National Implementation Plans

TSIs must contain information about the strategy for their implementation.  There are some instances where progress towards standardisation must be coordinated, and the Member States are therefore required to make a national implementation plan.  The first such plan made by the UK is for the implementation of ERTMS.  This plan was formally notified to the European Commission in September 2007, and its target dates are thus now binding on the UK.

• UK ERTMS National Implementation Plan (PDF, 570 kb)

The European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) will progressively replace conventional signalling over the next 15 - 20 years.  A lot of the lineside structures and equipment that are part of our landscape will become redundant, and start to disappear, and trains will be controlled instead by radio signals.  This change is essential if the rail system is to meet the needs of its customers in the 21st century.  It will mean that capacity usage of our crowded rail network can be optimised, that maintenance costs should be reduced, that fuel usage can be optimised thus reducing the carbon footprint, that the equipment will be much less vulnerable to local damage and vandalism than the conventional systems, and that signal sighting issues associated with conventional systems cease to be a problem.

Introduction of ERTMS is mandated by the Control Command & Signalling TSI, which requires each Member State to make a National Implementation Plan.  The UK plan focuses on implementation of Global System for Mobile communications - Railway (GSM-R) and European Train Control System in support of the introduction of ERTMS Level 2 without lineside signals. The plan aligns with expected re-signalling dates and rolling stock replacement dates wherever possible to produce the most cost-effective outcome.

The first section of the TEN to be converted to ERTMS working is the Cambrian Line, which links Shrewsbury with Aberystwyth via Dyfi Junction, and also the non-TEN section from Dyfi Junction to Pwllheli.  Network Rail and Arriva Trains Wales are collaborating on a pilot project to fit both trackside and train-borne equipment. 

Map showing the location of the Cambrian Line