FINLAND: GoA2 attended automated train operation over ETCS Level 2 has been demonstrated on a 19 km section of track between Juurikorpi and Hamina.
The trials by technology supplier Siemens Mobility, fleet owner Pääkaupunkiseudun Junakalusto and national train operator VR were organised to show how ATO could maximise the use of existing infrastructure. Using a Helsinki area Stadler Flirt Sm5 EMU, they included demonstrations of smooth acceleration, controlled braking and stopping from 100 km/h with a precision of 300 to 800 mm under real-world main line rail conditions, with the train being controlled automatically but with a driver in the cab.
‘Automation combined with modern safety systems increases capacity, enhances safety and brings greater predictability to rail operations’, said Esa Sirkiä, the director of Finnish transport infrastructure agency Väylävirasto. The organisation is responsible for the Digirail programme launched in 2019 to replace obsolete train control systems on the 6 000 km national network with ETCS by 2040.
‘Introducing ATO over ETCS to Finland — and for the first time to the Nordic countries — is a major milestone in modernising the railway system’, said Marc Ludwig, CEO Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, on March 10. ‘With our technology, our customers can increase capacity by 30%, significantly improve punctuality, and save over 30% energy.’
Digirail initiative
In 2024 Siemens Mobility was awarded two contracts under the Digirail initiative. The company is equipping two trains with ETCS onboard units for testing, and deploying its Signaling X cloud-ready virtualised platform based on commercial off-the-shelf hardware on the 191 km route between Lielahti, Rauma and Pori. This is being used as the pilot route for deployment.
The Digirail project is proceeding under a four-stage model: feasibility; preparatory; development & verification; and implementation. In early March Väylävirasto and rail traffic control and management services company Fintraffic Railway Ltd signed a €19·3m three-year alliance agreement for the implementation phase, durung which they will jointly renew the train control and traffic control and management systems covering the entire national network.
Fintraffic Railway Ltd will provide three packages of services during the implementation phase:
- developing information management, automation and new operating models;
- ERTMS expert work, development and co-ordination, including monitoring developments in Europe;
- overall project management, scheduling and co-ordination of the implementation phase.
This work will proceed in parallel with the development and verification phase, which is scheduled to continue until 2029 and includes the first deployment on the Tampere - Pori/Rauma line where passenger and freight services are expected to begin using ETCS in 2029.
‘The alliance model has worked well in the earlier phases, and will also provide a strong foundation for the implementation phase. When both parties are working towards common goals in the best interests of the project, they will produce sustainable solutions for the entire Finnish railway sector’, said Fintraffic Railway CEO Sanna Järvenpää on March 5.
