Installation of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) will increase capacity by up to 30% on some parts of the network, according to Martin Arter, Network Rail Programme Director, Digital Railway.
Arter, speaking to the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group, pointed out that traffic growth since 1993 has led to Britain having 41% of Europe’s declared congested infrastructure, and that on the South West Main Line ERTMS would cost 30% less than conventional capacity upgrades.
He said a study conducted by NR concluded that ERTMS would provide an extra 30,000 peak time seats and be delivered four years earlier than the ‘next best’ plan.
Under NR’s current plans a technology demonstrator of European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 3, which uses radio-based moving block signalling, would be delivered in June 2018. Development would be complete by the end of Control Period 5 in 2019, with early deployment beginning in Control Period 6 (2019-2024). The first route to have NR’s Digital Railway programme installed will be Norwich-Great Yarmouth-Lowestoft in 2019.
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Stuart - 29/04/2016 08:21
30% increase in capacity sounds good as a headline but the detail is "up to 30%" on "some routes" so could be "less than 10%" on "most routes". For Norwich- Great Yarmouth- Lowestoft, I am sure there are cheaper ways of increasing capacity (more carriages or extra passing loop perhaps)