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6. November 2020The DVF Steering Committee on Rail Technology is pleased with the initiative of the federal government to digitize and ecologize the entire rail network. A significant part of the way into the future is the complete integration into the train control and signaling system ETCS.
(Berlin) – At the DVF Steering Committee on Rail Technology, Enak Ferlemann MdB, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure, advocated for a financial solution regarding the ETCS retrofitting of rail vehicles: “The federal government is investing more than ever in the modernization and ecologization of the railways.
European Standard Important for Digitization
Together with the railway sector, we have already planned many conceptual measures so that rail can be the first climate-neutral mode of transport. A key component for this is the digitization of the railways through the European train control and signaling system ETCS. The so-called starter package in the model region of Stuttgart will finance the ETCS equipment of vehicles and tracks. For other network regions that do not belong to the starter package, railway companies (EVUs) would have to finance the retrofitting of their vehicles themselves. If necessary, support for the EVUs for retrofitting is required, for which the BMVI proposes a solution through the EU.”
Utilization of Available Funding is Essential
The head of the Steering Committee on Rail Technology, Andre Rodenbeck, CEO Rail Infrastructure Siemens Mobility GmbH, stated that enormous financial resources are available for rail infrastructure and it is now crucial to actually utilize these: “The federal government has presented two supplementary budgets with the highest planned net borrowing ever recorded, amounting to 217.8 billion euros. For a ‘Fast Track Program for Digital Rail’, 100 million euros will be made available in 2020 and 400 million euros in 2021. Additionally, to improve mobile reception along the railways, an additional 25 million euros will be provided in 2020 and 125 million euros in 2021. These examples show that the federal government wants to modernize rail infrastructure. Now it is about literally getting these financial resources on track.”www.verkehrsforum.de Image: © DVF Steering Committee on Rail Technology
