Správa železnic, Czech Republic

There is a need to significantly increase safety on the Railway Network in the Czech Republic – the number of passing the signal at danger is continuously increasing, the existing Class B system cannot prevent this to the necessary extent. The reasons for ETCS implementation are mainly:

• Improving the level of safety;
• Supervision of speed and other restrictions on the line;
• Fewer incidents mean increased transport reliability (e.g. elimination of train
  delays on the network caused by incidents and handling their consequences);
• Lower investment costs due to optimized equipment of lines with ETCS only operation (reduced costs for implementing parallel systems);
• With the implementation of ETCS L2 as a part of conventional interlocking
  optimization (ETCS L2 without lineside signals) directly for the ETCS only operation
  of trains , ETCS can help to increase infrastructure
  capacity;
• ETCS is a prerequisite for increasing speed on the railways beyond 160 km/h;
• Ensuring the interoperability of the European railway area;
• ETCS brings unification of traffic management principles on conventional lines
  connecting to high-speed lines.

ERTMS implementation strategy is described in the document „Plan of Modern Train Control System on the Czech Railway Network – Implementation of ETCS“. The plan expects ETCS and the introduction of ETCS only operation until 2032 on TEN-T Core and TEN-T Extended Core lines and until 2036 on TEN-T Comprehensive lines as well as the gradual implementation of ETCS on regional lines.

ETCS trackside on the Správa železnic infrastructure is based on four main
implementing rules:

1. TEN-T lines: ETCS L2 Full Supervision and GSM-R (FRMCS in future):
   • lines with high traffic density which need capacity increase and safety:
     ETCS L2 with infrastructure optimization (without lineside signals).
2. Important and busy secondary lines (urban, suburban transport):
   • ETCS L2 Full Supervision and GSM-R
3. Secondary lines with relatively low traffic volumes:
   • ETCS L1 Limited Supervision
4. Regional lines with very low traffic volumes and low speed:
   • ETCS STOP (principle based on ETCS L1, only Trip order is issued in case of
     SPAD)

Concepts according to 3 and 4 are intended especially for „last mile“ lines, which are
connected to main lines, but vehicles equipped with OBU ETCS are operated on both.
They are based on ETCS L1, there exist more reasons for this decision:

• Applicability of LEU with Eurobalises to older interlockings is more technically feasible
• It is also possible to implement gradually and in smaller areas than RBC (economic reasons)
• Secondary lines, where solutions based on ETCS L1 is applied, will be equipped with GSM-R (or FRMCS) in further time horizon

ETCS L1 Limited Supervision is based on application level 1 and focuses only on selected functions (e.g. safe control of not passing of signals at danger, basic speed profile supervision) that are necessary from a safety point of view on the line. The main reason is to simplify the technical design of the trackside part of ETCS and thus reduce investment costs and make a simpler technical solution, for example on lines with low traffic.

ETCS STOP is an even more simplified version based on ETCS L1, which ensures an emergency stop of the train in the event of a SPAD. If a train passes a signal at danger, a Trip Order is immediately issued. In the event of a SPAD being detected at a station, the relevant balises along the track also begin transmitting a Trip Order to stop an oncoming train from opposite direction. This variant is intended only for regional lines with very low traffic volume and low speeds.

PZV (from the Czech abbreviation “Prostředek k zastavení vlaku”) is a temporary, interoperable safety solution designed to mitigate the risk of Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD) across two complementary application scenarios within the Czech railway network. First, it addresses situations where ETCS Level 2 trackside systems cannot remain operational during long-term infrastructure reconstruction and modernization works on lines operated in ETCS-only operation; in such cases, PZV uses standard ETCS components, including Eurobalises and LEUs, to communicate with onboard units and trigger automatic emergency braking if a train passes a stop signal, thereby maintaining the high level of safety expected despite the temporary loss of ETCS supervision. Second, it is also intended as an interim safety measure for regional and secondary lines where full ETCS deployment is not yet feasible due to technical or economic constraints, enabling faster safety improvements while avoiding disproportionate investment. This second concept is being prepared for consultation and approval with ERA, ensuring that the solution is aligned with interoperability principles and can be consistently applied as a transitional step toward full ETCS implementation.

Analyses and operational experience have clearly shown that the simultaneous operation of vehicles equipped and not equipped with ETCS:

• does not allow to achieve an adequate increase in safety;
• does not allow to eliminate the limitations of the infrastructure capacity;
• does not reduce the operating costs of the infrastructure manager and RUs, and at the same time discriminates against RUs who have equipped their vehicles with ETCS and devalues their investment by insufficient use of ETCS.

A train without ETCS on the line becomes a threat not only to itself but also to all other trains on the line and in stations. Such simultaneous operation of ETCS and non-ETCS vehicles is also an obstacle to the anticipated increase in speed above 160 km/h. It is therefore necessary to ensure that all vehicles operating on a given line equipped with trackside ETCS are equipped with the mobile part of ETCS. This is established by the so-called ETCS Only operation on the line in question.

Starting in 2025, Správa železnic is therefore gradually introducing ETCS-only operation, primarily on the main lines of the TEN-T network. In 2026, ETCS is already operational on a total of 1,435 km of lines, including both ETCS L2 and ETCS L1-based solutions. On 670 km out of that, there is already ETCS-only operation. Further lines will be equipped gradually in accordance with the Czech Republic’s National Implementation Plan

ETCS only operation means, that passenger and freight trains must be equipped with ETCS OBU. There is already more than 2300 ETCS-equipped vehicles in regular operation on our infrastructure. Due to safety and operational reasons also „yellow fleet“ vehicles operation on ETCS only lines must be equipped with ETCS OBU. Currently, around 115 vehicles of yellow fleet are equipped with ETCS OBU, and more than 50 other vehicles will be retrofitted until 2029. For newly bought vehicles requirement for ETCS OBU is indispensable.

It is not desirable to install ATP Class B (system LS) any more. The first installation of ATP (on lines which have not been equipped with Class B) will be ERTMS only.

In the future, Správa železnic also plans the gradual decommissioning of the Class B system, in connection with the roll-out of the ETCS and the rapidly growing number of ETCS-equipped vehicles. This will also reduce operating costs, as it is highly inefficient to operate both systems in overlap at the same time.