Line part of ETCS L2 application in the Czech Republic – current status

Abstract

The article is concerned with the Pilot Project for homologation of ERTMS/ETCS system in the Czech Republic (PP). The article describes an operational characteristic of the PP (ETCS application on the conventional lines, mixed traffic with equipped and unequipped trains) and a technical characteristic of the PP (level 2 application, cooperation with existing trackside system from domestic supplier, development of the specific transmission module of the national Automatic Train Protection system of the LS type). The article describes the architecture of the ETCS L2 application and a development of the special interlocking - RBC interface IRI, its functionalities and behaviour. The article describes some of the test procedures used on the PP for the purposes of assessment and validation of the system components and procedures. The functional tests of the system components were performed primarily. Then the integration tests between laboratory simulators and then between real equipments were carried out. Very complex tests had to be done in order to obtain a preliminary technical approval of the new interlocking software. Test strategy was crowned by performing the on-site tests of the real equipment on the PP line.