SBB, Switzerland

WWW.SBB.CH

The Federal Office of Transport (FOT) is the supervisory authority responsible for public transport in Switzerland (railways, cableways, ships, trams and buses). Large areas of freight transport also fall within the FOT’s remit. The FOT is responsible for safety, finance, and infrastructure, as well as the legal and political frameworks of public and freight transport.

The system manager ETCS has the task to develop and implement all the necessary basic principles and requirements of the ETCS technology on the Swiss railway standard gauge network for all the various players. It is the goal to set the same specifications and operating rules for all the IU and RU in Switzerland.

Fourteen infrastructure managers (IM’s) and much more of railway undertakers (RU’s) are obligated to implement and operate ETCS.

Further information regarding Switzerlands’ ETCS strategy can be found on the Ministry’s site.

ERTMS DEPLOYMENT

The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) communicated and published in 2000 the principles and the strategy for the migration of the existing old Swiss class B train control systems (SIGNUM / ZUB) to ETCS on the Swiss standard gauge rail network. The migration strategy to

  • The fulfilment of the technical interoperability by an international harmonised standard
  • The fast replacement of the lineside part of the SIGNUM / ZUB system by ETCS L1 LS allows the use of only one train control system (ETCS) on the vehicle side. This reduces trainborne a significant amount of costs for the procurement, operating and the maintenance.
  • The deployment of ETCS L1 LS avoids the need to upgrade immediately all the lineside relay interlocking systems.
  • For existing vehicles which are not operated on ETCS L2 lines, there is no need for an immediate upgrade to ETCS. With the lineside migration to ETCS L1 LS, the installed balises allow also the operation with the trainborne ZUB / SIGNUM equipment (by using packet 44).

2011 the FOT clarified the ETCS strategy for the general migration to ETCS L2 for the time frame from 2025 upwards.

2012 the FOT put into force a directive for the migration to ETCS L1 LS. Fourteen infrastructure managers (IM’s) are obliged to implement ETCS along a network of around 3850 km. SBB, the biggest IM in Switzerland, is responsible for around 3000 km.

2017 this decision is ongoing being examined by the FOT based on the experience to date and subject to consultation of the innovation project called “SmartRail 4.0”.

2021 the FOT presented the new ERTMS strategy in which is described how ERTMS shall be deployed until 2040. The long-term solution shall be based on a new interlocking according to RCA.

THE FOLLOWING LINES WILL BE PLACED INTO SERVICE WITH ETCS L2

Then all the lines without Vezia-Capolago are in service today.

A) INFRASTRUCTURE

In Switzerland there are no lines in the category High Speed.

Up to now, the following lines (most double track) are placed into service with ETCS L2:

Mattstetten-Rothrist (NBS) and Derendingen-Inkwil (ABS)

  • Part of corridor RALP (Mattstetten-Rothrist)
  • Baseline 2.2.2+, M_Version = 1
  • Initial operation: July 2006
  • Track length: 45 km
  • Passenger and freight trains (freight trains only in night)
  • Maximum speed: 200 km/h
  • Number of trains in 2017: 101’920
  • Supplier of the lineside equipment: Alstom

Lötschberg Base Tunnel (LBT)

  • Part of corridor RALP
  • Baseline 2.3.0d, M_Version = 1
  • Initial operation: June 2007
  • Track length: 34 km
  • Passenger and freight trains
  • Maximum speed: 200 km/h
  • Number of trains in 2017: 37’154
  • Supplier of the lineside equipment: Thales

Brunnen-Altdorf-Erstfeld

  • Part of corridor RALP
  • Baseline 2.3.0d, M_Version = 1
  • Initial operation: August 2015
  • Track length: 19 km
  • Maximum speed: 160 km/h
  • Passenger and freight trains
  • Number of trains in 2017: 74’900
  • Supplier of the lineside equipment: Thales

Bodio-Pollegio north-Biasca-Giustizia-Castione

  • Part of corridor RALP
  • Baseline 2.3.0d, M_Version = 1
  • Initial operation: December 2015
  • Track length: 17 km
  • Maximum speed: 160 km/h
  • Passenger and freight trains
  • Number of trains in 2017: 79’800 trains
  • Supplier of the lineside equipment: Thales

Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT)

  • Part of corridor RALP
  • Baseline 2.3.0d, M_Version = 1
  • Initial operation: December 2016
  • Track length: 57 km
  • Maximum speed: 200 km/h
  • Passenger and freight trains
  • Number of trains in 2017: 44’200
  • Supplier of the lineside equipment: Thales

Lausanne-Pully

  • Part of Conventional Network
  • Baseline 2.3.0d, M_Version = 1
  • Initial operation: April 2017
  • Track length: 29 km
  • Maximum speed: 160 km/h
  • Passenger and freight trains
  • Number of trains in 2017: 54’395 trains
  • Supplier of the lineside equipment: Thales

The following lines will be placed into service with ETCS L2

Giubiasco-Sant Antonino

  • Part of corridor RALP
  • Baseline 2.3.0d, M_Version = 1
  • Planned for placing into service: May 2018
  • Track length: 11 km
  • Passenger and freight trains
  • Supplier of the lineside equipment:>

Sion-Sierre

  • Part of Conventional Network
  • Baseline 2.3.0d, M_Version = 1.1
  • Planned for placing into service: October 2018
  • Track length: 25 km
  • Passenger and freight trains
  • Supplier of the lineside equipment: Siemens

Ceneri Base Tunnel

  • Part of corridor RALP
  • Baseline 2.3.0d, M_Version = 1.1
  • Planned for placing into service: December 2020
  • Track length: 16 km
  • Passenger and freight trains
  • Supplier of the lineside equipment: Thales

Vezia-Capolago

  • Part of corridor RALP
  • Baseline not yet specified
  • Planned for placing into service: around 2023 but not finally fixed
  • Passenger and freight trains

B) ROLLING STOCK

Around 1100 locos/trains are actually equipped with ETCS consisting of about 30 different vehicle types with 4 different on-board unit suppliers.

The Swiss standard gauge network (aprox. 3’800 km) is fully equipped with ETCS L1LS by the end of 2018.

CLASS B STATUS AND PERSPECTIVE

The class B SIGNUM and ZUB are removed by the end of 2018. The whole networks is equipped with ZUB/SIGNUM as class B system. The system is implemented with ETCS technology, all balises are equipped with packet 44.

Network access is only possible by vehicles with either ETCS BL3 or with a so called ETM that can read the P44 from balises.

For the time being there is no end time fixed for the Class B system.