ETCS 2 in Gotthard : between fears and challenges

Analysis of Mediarail.be - Signalling technician and railways observer

See also the Trainworld on facebook of Mediarail.be, also Twitter and LinkedIn

17/02/2016

In an article in the professional journal "Railway Update", it was spoken in the latest issue about the difficulties of the Gotthard. The 19km Erstfeld-Brünnen section has indeed migrated to the european signalisation system ETCS Level 2, since mid-August 2015. This would have a significant impact on the traction services, particularly for all non-retrofitted locomotives. The new Gotthard basis tunnel will be expected in operation in December 2016.

The reason given by SBB to introduce ETCS is the creation of transit corridors to allow freight trains to pass through Switzerland without national protection equipment, which is the first reason of the ETCS systems. The Gotthard route is a part of the Rhine-Alpine corridor, which is a creation of the EU for the promotion of a no-border train traffic and improve the capacity and the security. Even if Switzerland is not a member state of EU, the country has chosen to install  the same signalling system which their neighbours are supposed to install. But this not (still) the case nor in Germany, nor in Italy.

In red : ETCS Level 2; in blue : ETCS Level 1 Limited supervision (doc SBB/CFF)

On 16 August 2015, SBB for the first time converted the existing section Brunnen-Erstfeld on the Gotthard route, to the ETCS Level 2. Since then, access is restricted to trains with a lead vehicle fitted with approved and operational ETCS equipment. The situation today in Switzerland is that the Lötschberg base tunnel route (LBT) will be also upgraded to the 2.3.0d version, which will then only leave the Lötschberg mountain route (via Kandersteg) for traction vehicles with older version of ETCS to transit in Switzerland. The program do not stop a this short section on the Gotthard route. Besides the actual Gotthard and Ceneri basetunnels, the following access route sections will be equipped with ETCS L2 : Flüelen-Rynächt, Castione-Arbedo, Biasca-Pollegio Nord, San Antonio-Giubiasco (2017) and Vezia-Lugano North (2019/2020). In other word, the ETCS section will expand.

(document 2014 - SBB/CFF)

A question of software

The software version which was chosen is the last 2.3.0d, while the line Mattsteten-Rothrist (NBS) and the Lötschberg base tunnel (LBT) have the version 2.2.2+. All traction units which was approved for the version on the NBS and LBT routes were retrofitted and re-certified by the Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT). That makes a considerable impact of the traction units of others owner or railways, particularly by the fact that all sections considered in ETCS L2 are placed on the major section of the Rhine-Alpine corridor.

The consequence is that the freight traffic situation on the Gotthard changed abruptly on 16 August 2015. Except few engines class Re 486, 186 or 187 (all from Bombardier), trains are now hauled exclusively by SBB locomotives. The company is indeed happy that it awarded an order to upgrade 233 locomotives in 2012 (to Siemens), even if theirs 20 SBB Cargo Re 4/4 IIs were upgraded later, but just in time. By comparison, DB Schenker Class 185 locomotives have not been converted and have be replaced by SBB Cargo Re 6/6s and Re 4/4 IIs, with change at Basel-Muttenz yard. Siemens locomotives have completely disappeared from the Gotthard route. The retrofitting and recertification of the ES 64 F4 engines (BR 189) is believed to be in progress although no deadlines are available. Germans Class Re 185s (Bombardier) operate some domestic SBB freight trains in Switzerland as replacements for these SBB engines. The reintroduced locomotive change in Basel requests an increase in available locomotives, which demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of optimized long-distance operation of traction units.

Today, the European Railway Agency (ERA, Valenciennes) is responsible of the official software version of the ETCS, but from time to time approves notified national technical rules. If a locomotive have his own ETCS equipment (like in Netherland for example), the owner must not only have the additional rules upgraded, assessed and approved in that country, but it must also have the operating license for the countries served to date amended or re-issued. Today, through operation with ETCS is possible from Rotterdam as far as the German border. It is theoretically possible to equip a locomotive and obtain approval for the through run from Rotterdam via the Dutch Btw route, Germany and the Gothard route, but no operators has succeeded in doing this date. Currently, trains from Netherlands to Italy without change of locomotive have to travel via the Lötschberg, but we have seen that the LBT route will be also upgraded this year. In Switzerland, ETCS must indeed replace the old Signum systems and ZUB on-board antennas and trackside equipement, by new antennas GSM-R and European specific equipment on-board, such as the driver interface screen and other elements.

The only permitted Re6/6 + Re4/4 at Wassen (by kuknauf via flickr CC BY-ND 2.0)

Cost and delays

The economic consequences of the disrupted deployments are considering as disastrous, since more locomotives and drivers are needed for the same number of freight trains. A double-heading service or a change of locomotive is required of the ETCS section !

In addition, the rolling stock owners and operators must bear the costs for their on-board equipment themselves. Planning, hardware installation, programming, assessment and certification are expensive enough already and can easily exceed one million Euro, at least for the first locomotive of a series deployed for cross-border operations. In reality, the millions needed for engineering and conversion of the locomotives are virtually non-existent in railway operator’s budgets.

The new Siemens locomotive class Vectron is going through a novel, internationally coordinated approval process in which the authorities in the countries concerned share the tasks for different sub-areas and each guarantees to recognize and adopt the decisions of its counterparts. The Swiss FOT, for example, has the task of examining brakes. Based on this method, a first Vectron will be in operation on the BLS network as early as 2016. The same method is planned for DB’s ICx (Siemens), SBB’s Twidexx Emu (Bombardier) and Giruno vehicles (Stadler).

The future depends on the capability of Siemens to upgrade Re 485s and Re 185s (Bombardier). The opening of Gotthard base tunnel will go step by step after summer 2016 until to the full launch in December 2016. According Railway Update, approval is being held up by a dispute between equipment provider Siemens and engines manufacturer Bombardier, over the apparently hefty costs for retrofitting, as told above. If Siemens does not succeed, all traffic will be taken over still by  the SBB fleet of Re 6/6 and Re 4/4 II and III. However, the poor condition of several of these locomotives, resulting in fires breaking out, argues against their intensive tunnel deployment.

Passengers

The Fiat/Alstom tilting trains ETR 470 and 610, and the ICN RABe 503 have to be refitted with the software version 2.3.0d by the manufacturer, to avoid to lose their multi-country approval in Germany and in Italy. The Pendolino is entitled to an exceptional approval provided by the FOT until December 2016. Failure to provide documented evidence of conformity and to obtain an operating licence poses the threat of cancellation of through passenger train services to Chiasso and Milan.

These Swiss adventures show a reality: the implementation of ETCS is more harder on existing lines than on high-speed lines. It is true that the new lines have a preliminary study that takes into account all parameters of ETCS and anticipates problems. Moreover, the retrofit of existing equipment must face the astronomical costs of the electronics industry, which is not known to be low-cost. The risk is that ETCS is considered a luxury gadget that brings no gains in terms of capacity and of lower operating costs.