Railways are becoming increasingly crowded and this is expected to continue for several years. Therefore, rail operator ProRail is working hard to improve and expand the Dutch rail infrastructure. Travelling abroad by train is also gaining in popularity.

Cross-border train travel should become easier with fewer delays at the border. Each country now has its own train protection system. As part of European cooperation, rail companies are working on the new European security system ERTMS, which will replace the current national system in each country. ERTMS stands for European Rail Traffic Management System and is the European standard. ERTMS ensures an interoperable rail system where every train can run on every section of track in Europe.

At the same time as its European ambitions, ERTMS must also ensure higher capacity on the tracks, a safer and more reliable system that also allows trains to travel faster. All in all, a challenging ERTMS programme in which ProRail and the transport operators are working together.

Wim Jägers has been working at ProRail on the implementation of ERTMS in the Netherlands for about 20 years. Questions such as what is ERTMS, how does it work, how far are we, what are the plans and so on, are discussed. Also of interest are the important innovations, which should make the design and realisation process of ERTMS faster and cheaper.

Prior to the lecture, the annual meeting of the North West region will take place