Interoperability of the
European Railways - Most 
Recent Achievements

The interoperability in transports, especially on the railways, is one of the most important objectives that the European Union has scheduled for the future.

In order to accomplish this desideratum, the Community of European Railways (CER) has founded the European Association for Railway Interoperability (AEIF), temporary body reuniting experts from various fields and countries that area assigned to commonly draw up the technical specifications necessary for putting into practice the difficult interoperability program. Still for meeting this objective, all the participants at the railway traffic are involved, together with the UIC and the constructing industry, in the enforcement of the technical specifications and, respectively, in the acquisition and the assembling of the necessary signaling and telecommunication systems. And there are already seen the results of the European cooperation in this respect, some of the countries applying certain measures and techniques that, finally, will make their contribution to the free operation of the trains from one end of Europe to another.
Two of the key-components of the process aiming the achievement of the European railway transport interoperability are the unified ETCS systems (control and command) and GMS - R (radio communications in the railways). Functional specifications and the systems have been defined on international plan by UIC, and the railway networks, in collaboration with the industry (the producers of signaling and telecommunication elements), with the support of EU, have started to enforce them.
Here it is, further on, what happened in the last months in certain European countries while enforcing the elements necessary for the achievement of the interoperability.

Austria
One of the most involved west-European railway administrations in the liberalization of the railway transport and in�interoperability of the Federal Austrian Railways (OBB). In order to prove further one this status, OBB has started to implement the first level of ETCS system meant for the command and control of the trains, starting off the current year the pilot-operation on Bruck/Laitha - Nickelsdorf.

Spain
Recently, the Spanish Railways (RENFE) have launched to all interested companies an offer demand for the adaptation of the existing radio-communication systems on AVE trains, on Madrid - Seville line to the GSM technique and "has available" in this respect the amount of 7.6 million Euro.

Germany
The German Railways (DB) continue the assembling of the radio communication systems based on digital technique, which will allow the provision of the international railway communication interoperability. Practically, up to the end of the year 2004, DB will terminate the assembling of GSM-R network equipment, the digital radio communication system on the railways for which there have been already defined by UIC the necessary technical specifications and are also in agreement with the telecommunication industry. In fact, besides the German railways, all the railway transport companies should use the GSM-R technology, because they should operate on this country infrastructure. Fact that will represent a quite laborious activity if we take into consideration the fact that only at DB the new technical equipment should be assembled on no less than 9,000 locomotive and motorcars.

Belgium
For the development of its mobile telephony GSM-R network, Belgian Railways (SNCB) has signed a frame-contract on four years with Siemens. This contract has a value of 135 million Euro and stipulates the achievement of a radio network covering 3,000 km of line owned by SNCB. The Belgians consider that, through the possibility of vocal and data transmission communication offered by GSM-R system, the railway transport from this country would get a key-element in point of security and exploitation.

Switzerland
In the next year, Federal Swiss Railways (SBB) will put into practice, in five stages, their own radio communication network based on the same technique, GSM-R. This network, which achievement has been assigned to the well-known Siemens Company, is related to the implementation of the unique command, control system and the provision of the trains security called ETCS. Through the creation of a link between the two systems there will be achieved the data transmission between the exploitation center and the engine drivers' cabin. Besides the strict function of control and command this system will serve as standard communications interface for the multitude of applications related to the exploitation, as well as for the provision of various services towards the clients. For a first stage of this project, the Federal Swiss Railways (SBB) have allocated 20.5 million Swiss francs, for the entire assembly of this SBB stipulating a total budget of 375 million Swiss francs.

Systems for the gauge change
The Polonaise Railway (PKP SA) has recently recorded a premier: the testing of a new automatic changing system for the gauge SUW 2000, considered to bring an important contribution to the provision of the interoperability of the railway transport system on Europe - Asia direction.
In the railway world it is well-known the fact that the desideratum of creating an integrated railway transport at continental scale implies, among other, the development of technical solutions with regard to the facilitation of the train traffic between the various national networks, some with normal gauge (1435 mm) and other with wide gauge (as in Spain, Portugal, Finland and the countries from the former URSS).
The building of the intercontinental railway corridors, especially the ones defined by UIC for the development of the goods exchange on the big routes of the trade (as the axles Europe - Middle East - Asia/ Extreme Orient), supposes the regulation of the problems created by the existence of the various types of gauge.
For this, UIC has recorded among its priority activities the homologation of the systems for the automatic gauge changing, created by the railway industry in collaboration with the railway companies from the interested countries. Several types of such systems have been already studied, developed and tested, and the progress performed in this direction is supervised by the UIC East-West Mission, as well as the cooperation between UIC and the Organization for Railway Collaboration (OCCF /OSJD), the most important international organizations where the railway companies from the countries involved are included in.
Therefore, the Polonaise Railways has presented, at the beginning of this year, the report regarding the SUW 2000 system, which has been tested in the passengers and freight traffic between Poland and Lithuania.
Presently, there are made efforts for the introduction of SUW 2000 in the railway services that are developed on the Ukrainian Railways (UZ), Belarus (BC) and the Russian Federation (RZD), three railway networks that showed a special interest in the assembling of this system.

Ileana Statie