Background and challenges

Riding the rails across Europe isn’t that simple! At every border, trains have to stop, change locomotive and driver, as signals vary from country to country. Twenty-seven in all are in service on the continent. This is a real hindrance to the development of mobility and freight transport, and ultimately leads to a lack of competitiveness between rail and road.

The subject is not new, and since the 2000s, Europe has been seeking to harmonize rail signalling, by standardizing standards, frequencies, signalling and detection systems: ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System). The aim is to move away from signalling on the tracks of individual countries to common signalling on board trains, with the European Train Control System (ETCS).

ERTMS has set up a fund to encourage the use of ETCS on board European trains, and to equip all networks with beacons linked to the system by 2035. As a result, rail mobility will become smoother and more frequent. Good news for Europe’s commercial growth and carbon footprint!

SEGULA Technologies has been selected to support this deployment, on board locomotives from a wide range of brands, including Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens, Thales… Its strengths? As an independent company, SEGULA Technologies has experience with all equipment manufacturers and with a wide range of on-board signalling systems.

The issues

• In Europe, rolling stock manufacturers must equip their fleets with on-board signalling systems, and railway companies their tracks with beacons.
• Europe has decided not to let the old systems coexist with the new ones.
• The scale of this massive deployment – 80,000 vehicles to be equipped in 2,000 different categories – is such that manufacturers do not have the manpower to handle it.
• A report published in March 2023 by Germany decreed that the construction of rolling stock should be handled by the usual equipment manufacturers, but that the market is open for the design and installation of signalling.
• European countries have a problem with the availability of documentation and the history of modifications linked to maintenance operations.

Our missions

• Identification of rail vehicle equipment requiring expertise. If the documentation is not available, volume scan of the interior.
• Analysis of the documents in terms of objectives and equipment in a feasibility phase. For example, is the floor strong enough to be drilled and antennas integrated?
• Integration studies to design plans by engineers.
• Engineering and verification that installation of the on-board signalling system will not degrade the performance of existing locomotives.
• Development of prototype locomotives, equipment and traffic test authorizations.
• Supervision of the installation of the signalling system, or management of the chosen service provider, or reinforcement of the installation teams, to ensure that the final equipment is properly approved.
• Traceability of operations and interface management.
• Detailed design of cable plans to enable installers to lay the equipment.
• Compliance with standards and regulations to allow equipment to circulate.
• Modification of codes to ensure that the new signage does not impact the on-board computer.

In figures

7,000 units already equipped in the first year

2,000 prototypes to be qualified by 2035, with Dassault Aviation doubling its production rate by September 2023.

Around 100 people to be recruited in 2024 for this project

Customer benefits

• Significant time savings to ensure that we can meet the 2035 schedule for equipping the entire network.
• SEGULA Technologies’ versatility, with the ability to design and install all types of signalling equipment.
• A single point of contact for all equipment
• A wide range of services for all phases of development, from design to authorization management.
• Excellent knowledge of the various European rail networks, with proven experience in each country and expertise in homologation standards.