GERMAN Rail's (DB) long-distance passenger division, DB Fernverkehr, has issued a call for tenders to fit European Train Control System (ETCS) to its ICE1 fleet of high-speed trains.

CHILEAN State Railways (EFE) has awarded Bombardier a $US 21m contract to supply and install ETCS Level 1 on the 22km Santiago Alameda – Nós line, the first commercial deployment of ERTMS in Chile and only the second in South America.

JR East plans to introduce its Advanced Train Administration and Communications System (Atacs) on the busy Saikyo Line in Tokyo from autumn 2017.

While the roll-out of GSM-R in Europe has been a great success, there are two immediate threats to its prospects, and there is a growing recognition that railway telecommunications will have to evolve to keep up with and take advantage of rapid changes in technology.

Following the completion of its early deployment project in Wales, Network Rail has begun preparing for the introduction of ERTMS on some of the busiest parts of the British network. Keith Barrow looks at how the programme is progressing.

IRJ at Nordic Rail: Testing is set to commence in November on Norwegian infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket's pilot ERTMS project.

NORWEGIAN infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket says it is ready to launch pilot operation of ERTMS in the southeast of the country in the next stage of preparations for the national rollout of the system.

SPANISH development minister Mrs Ana Pastor has announced a range of measures aimed at improving safety across the whole rail network after the accident at Santiago de Compostela on July 26, which left 79 dead and dozens injured.

HITACHI Rail Europe's "Verification-Train 3" has successfully completed a series of tests on a Network Rail class 97/3 locomotive equipped with ETCS Level 2 onboard equipment.

During Global Transport Forum's signalling and train control conference in Vienna in March Mr Jos Holtzer, with Netherlands Railways passenger rolling stock and energy division, questioned whether GSM-R in its current guise is able to support ETCS reliably. David Briginshaw was there to hear Holtzer's radical comments and proposals.