RM: Since the new year, the ETCS system has been introduced on the railway in full operation, how did ČD Cargo prepare for this?
Petr Nedomlel, ČD Cargo: If the process of purchasing modern ETCS-equipped traction vehicles and equipping selected existing traction vehicle series within the framework of individual projects, which has been running practically since the approval of the national ETCS implementation plan in 2017, can be overlooked, there were many areas to be examined and a large number of tasks to be solved. A complex task was the implementation of ETCS in the area of regulations and then ensuring the theoretical and practical knowledge of the system among our drivers. Another important task for our traffic planners and technologists was the efficient deployment of ETCS-equipped vehicles and drivers with the necessary expertise to cover 100% of the expected requirements on the lines equipped with the line section, including the possibility of any operational solutions. Cooperation with other carriers, both in national and cross-border operations, using our own and other carriers' traction vehicles and their employees, could not be overlooked. All related relationships had to be examined and the necessary measures taken where appropriate. The exclusive operation did not avoid our IT specialists, who had to ensure that the necessary ETCS-related information (such as information on the ETCS equipment of locomotives, the so-called keys for communication with the infrastructure section, information on the driver's eligibility for deployment on an ETCS track, etc.) was implemented, linked and transmitted in support of the planning and management of traffic in our applications and information systems. We certainly welcomed the staggering of the start of operation into 4 phases gradually from 1 to 25 January 2025. As the aim was to minimise the risks of the impact of the transition to exclusive ETCS operation on our customers and partners, we actively entered the exclusive operation mode with a month's notice as from 1 December 2024. We used this period to the maximum extent possible to verify the new procedures and technologies in the context of planning and traffic management and to resolve detected faults.
RM: What are your expectations for the long-term benefits of ETCS in terms of freight transport and operational efficiency?
Petr Nedomlel, ČD Cargo: The benefits of ETCS at the moment are mainly in the area of safety. It is the first ever real signalling system in the Czech Republic. It is real because ETCS transmits information to the driver about the individual elements on the track, the speed and the individual signals, and in the event that the driver does not react appropriately according to the content of the instructions of these signals, it warns the driver and, in the event of inaction, as a last resort, brings the train to an emergency stop. This is a fundamental difference from the original train protection system, which was based on the locomotive giving the driver information about other signals and the driver having to respond by acknowledging the warning. However, the process chain lacked an automatic function that would stop the train independently of the driver in the face of the imminent danger. So, the clear benefit is already the elimination of a large proportion of incidents where unauthorised driving behind a signal has previously occurred, both in terms of the consequences to health and property (if the unauthorised driving has resulted in a collision with other vehicles) and in terms of stopping traffic for several hours for investigation. Especially on heavily used main corridors, this caused considerable problems and had a very negative impact on both the operational performance of the transport plan and the overall perception of the quality and level of the railway and its reliability.
ETCS-equipped locomotives will be a necessity for operation not only in the Czech Republic but also on the main European corridors in the next few years, and therefore we expect a greater increase in efficiency here than before due to the elimination of locomotive changes on trains when switching to the infrastructure of another country. As far as the capacity of lines is concerned, at the moment on lines where ETCS has been implemented on existing signalling equipment (so-called lines without benefits), there has been a rather slight reduction due to a slight increase in journey times as a result of the necessity of strict compliance with prescribed braking curves or the application of release speeds, which ETCS creates for the needs of safe stopping before signals, i.e. before the place where the furthest train path is safely secured. Thanks to a higher level of train protection on the upcoming so-called benefit lines (without existing signals) and subsequently in more advanced levels of ETCS functions, there will undoubtedly be an increase in line capacity and therefore room for efficiency improvements.
RM: How many locomotives did you have to equip, how many drivers did you have to qualify?
Petr Nedomlel, ČD Cargo: ČD Cargo entered the first phase of exclusive ETCS operation on 1 January 2025 with three hundred locomotives equipped with the mobile part of ETCS in Switch on mode, i.e. capable of operating and driving under active ETCS supervision, and more than a thousand newly trained drivers. Both of these areas are developing dynamically and both the number of ETCS-equipped locomotives and the number of drivers trained to drive with ETCS active supervision are increasing. Our new simulator for drivers of ČD Cargo in Česká Třebová, which enabled training in operational and emergency situations when operating ETCS under the supervision of an experienced instructor, has helped us a lot with the training of drivers and has been positively evaluated by the drivers themselves. A fresh novelty is also the possibility of using the newly acquired mobile simulator.
RM: It was the train drivers we wanted to ask about. How has the introduction of ETCS affected their daily routine? Does it require them to make fundamental changes in the way they drive?
Petr Nedomlel, ČD Cargo: The advantage was a few years of so-called mixed operation (the line was equipped with the line part of ETCS, but its use was not necessarily mandated), when the test runs of individual locomotives equipped with ETCS and the training of drivers in the control of the mobile part and the practice of driving under the supervision of ETCS took place gradually. After the initial mistrust of some drivers, I think that although the operation of ETCS to some extent while driving increases the demands on the driver's interaction with the mobile part of ETCS on the locomotive, drivers perceive ETCS and the above safety features as a good help, which can keep an eye on them, alert them to possible errors and so they will forgive them for having to travel more slowly to the stop signals than they have been used to in their many years of experience.
RM: Is it possible to say that the introduction of ETCS is a benefit or a disadvantage for your company compared to small carriers who may not have to invest as much?
Petr Nedomlel, ČD Cargo: I certainly have to agree that a small carrier that has units of vehicles and drivers or leases them had a simpler implementation process, but the conditions were clearly defined in advance and the same for all carriers. Given that ČD Cargo owns or operates the vast majority of locomotives used for rail transport and similarly, with few exceptions, all drivers are our employees, the implementation process was a little more complicated. Not only that, but the size of the company and the specialisation of the individual specialist departments also had an impact on the fact that exclusive operation was a very significant process for ČD Cargo, requiring systematic management, intensive coordination and regular monitoring at the level of the company's top management.
RM: What is the situation in the Czech Republic compared to neighbouring countries?
Petr Nedomlel, ČD Cargo: That is a good question. For a long time, there was some controversy around the date for the launch of the exclusive operation in the Czech Republic as to why a significantly more ambitious plan was chosen in the Czech Republic than in neighbouring countries. There are many aspects to this, of course, but from a safety point of view it was the lack of a mature national signalling system in the Czech Republic (unlike, for example, Germany or Austria) that was the main argument for launching exclusive ETCS operation to a greater extent and earlier than in most European countries. However, I think that after the tragic train collision in Pardubice last June, it was already clear that the introduction of exclusive operation should be implemented as soon as possible. In the long term, however, ETCS is the only route that will have to be taken by all those who are considering the future and prospects of rail transport in a European context.
RM: Some experts have said that the introduction of exclusive ETCS operation is comparable to moments such as the switch from steam to electric locomotives, do you agree with them?
Petr Nedomlel, ČD Cargo: Absolutely. It should be remembered that the introduction of exclusive operation has had an impact on a significant part of the rail network and on all locomotives operating on that network, both from a technical, technological and organisational point of view. Given that the risk and possible consequence of not managing the whole process of launching exclusive operation would be not allowing locomotives and trains on the line and, in the extreme case, stopping operations, I dare say that the introduction of exclusive operation of ETCS is an even more significant event in this respect. After all, electric operations operated for some years with steam operations in "mixed traffic", to use ETCS terminology, and steam locomotives gradually handed over to modern electrics as circumstances evolved, and in the event of their momentary and temporary failures, steam locomotives could take to the track and save the operation. This is no longer possible with the introduction of exclusive ETCS operation.
