OREANDA-NEWS. On Monday 20 October, Infrabel finished fully equipping the railway line between Namur and the Luxembourg border with ETCS. With a length of 160 kilometres, this line is the longest in Europe (not including high-speed lines) ever to be equipped with this European safety system.

160km of permanent speed control: a record

ETCS (the "European Train Control System") is a European safety standard in the domain of track signalling. It provides better safety guarantees: the "Namur-Dinant-Bertrix-Athus" line can from now on be regarded as one of the safest railway infrastructures in Europe. In addition, it is the longest European rail connection (except for high-speed lines) ever to be equipped with ETCS.

1900 balises

In practice, every train equipped with ETCS between Namur and the Luxembourg border (the stretch known as "Athus-Meuse") will be monitored by around 1900 track balises. Every time a train passes over one of these balises, an automatic exchange of information takes place which makes it possible to permanently control the train's speed. If the train is travelling too fast, the ETCS system adjusts its speed depending on its location (maximum permissible speed per railway line, signal status, approaching a transitional zone, etc.).

European project

Over a period of five years, Infrabel has invested 24.7 million euros (50% of which in the form of European subsidies) in order to roll out ETCS on this line. As part of an agreement with Europe, the main route in Belgium, the "Rotterdam-Antwerp-Luxembourg-Basel/Lyon" goods corridor, must also be equipped with ETCS before the end of 2015.