Denmark’s ERTMS/CBTC programme delayed

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Banedanmark has issued a statement confirming that its implementation of ERTMS and CBTC signalling will be delayed because it ‘has proved more complex than expected’.

Denmark’s rail infrastructure manager had envisaged a full rollout of ERTMS by the end of 2021 and CBTC by 2018.

The ERTMS programme is now expected to go back by up to two years. Banedanmark said it and suppliers Siemens, Thales-Strukton and Alstom needed more time for testing and approval of the technology.

As well as the reliability and safety benefits of in-cab signalling systems, the programme is replacing signalling technology that is more than 50 years old.

The overlay of CBTC on the first section of the Copenhagen S-Bane network will be delayed by up to a year. The cost of the project will also rise, Banedanmark said.

Jan Schneider-Tilli, director of the signalling programme, said he now wanted to ‘draw a line in the sand and look forward’.

Despite the delay progress is being made. Initial testing has begun on the first stretch of ERTMS-equipped railway between Roskilde and Køge.

The first section of the S-Bane to implement CBTC will be between Hillerød and Jægersborg.