Dutch rail digitization project ERTMS has been delayed, costs billion euros more – Sound and Vision – News

The event and building of the European Rail Site visitors Administration System within the Netherlands is multiple billion euros dearer than budgeted. The undertaking can also be delayed by about two years, which means that the European deadline of 2030 is not going to be met.

State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen of Infrastructure and Water Administration registers a letter to the Home of Representatives that the roll-out of the ERTMS has been delayed. The European Rail Site visitors Administration System is a European communication customary for the rail community, which implies that practice site visitors in each EU nation communicates in the identical means. The implementation of the expertise in present trains, site visitors management programs and bodily on the observe is taking longer than anticipated for varied causes, she writes.

One of many take a look at routes the place ERTMS is deployed, the Hanzelijn, can’t be deployed till early 2027 on the earliest. The primary exams on one other take a look at observe is not going to be held till 2028, says the State Secretary. Heijnen additionally warns that additional delays could happen sooner or later: “The interdependence between initiatives is excessive, in order that the chance profile of this system stays excessive.” This cohesion consists of each the modified trains and the modified tracks and switches. As well as, practice site visitors management should even be related to ERTMS and drivers should study to drive with the system. If a kind of hyperlinks breaks, a domino impact of delay can ensue.

Heijnen additionally says that the present working technique of the assorted events isn’t working effectively. “With out a change within the working technique of ProRail and the opposite sector events, the roll-out of ERTMS will final till after 2050,” she warns.

These delays additionally improve the prices of the undertaking, however that additionally causes extra delays. In October final yr, the State Secretary already warned that freight transport corporations hardly invested within the change to ERTMS, exactly due to the excessive prices. The prices as much as 2030 would now be greater than a billion euros greater than budgeted, says Heijnen.