Successful ERTMS testing on the Hertford Loop – Network Rail

The ERTMS test programme has entered its second phase, Network Rail has said.

In-cab signalling is being tested on the Hertford Loop ahead of its wider roll-out across the network, starting with the GWML and the southern end of the EMCL.

The only part of the country where its signalling component, ETCS, is already in use is on the Cambrian line in Wales.

Network Rail’s Simon Whitehorn said: “ETCS will have a huge impact on the railway and it’s vital we thoroughly test our equipment to get it right first time.

“Testing has gone very well and even in the first few days we were able to get the cab and trackside equipment communicating and complete the planned tests.

“The kit on the train is supplied by SSL, and therefore it was their trackside equipment that was first in line for testing. That has been completed successfully and we’re now in the process of testing Infrasig’s equipment.

“Switching the test facility on was a big moment for the team and it’s a big step towards eventually rolling cab signalling out across the country.”

The ETCS National Integration Facility (ENIF) at Hitchin is making use of a five-mile stretch of the down line on the Hertford Loop between Molewood Tunnel and Langley South junction, controlled from a new structure in the former Hitchin goods yard.

It will be used over the next 18 months to test four suppliers’ trackside ETCS equipment using a converted Class 313 laboratory train.

Siemens and Ansaldo’s trackside equipment will follow in the testing programme, and Network Rail’s work at Hitchin will continue until the track and train are handed over to the Thameslink programme. This will allow them to test systems in advance of equipping the line from St Pancras to Blackfriars with ETCS and automatic train operation.

The industry timetable for ERTMS roll-out is:

2013 - Testing begins at Hertford National Integration Facility test track

2015 - Operational ETCS begins on Hertford Loop

2016-2019 - Roll-out on Great Western Main Line from Paddington to Bristol

2019-2020 - Roll-out on East Coast Main Line from King’s Cross to Doncaster

2021-2022 - Roll-out on Midland Main Line from London St Pancras to Leicester

2021-2024 - Roll-out reaches Scotland, including Stranraer-Ayr, Glasgow, Dundee-Aberdeen and Edinburgh West

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(Image shows ERTMS lab train 313121 at Bletchley on test)