Proven technology

The Digital Railway enables us to manage and operate the network in a very different way.

Digital Railway’s strategy is to deploy digital signalling and train control systems to address specific capacity and performance pinch points on the network. The technology is already proven, backed by government policy and built on open standards that operate across Europe.

The Digital Railway brings together stakeholders across the rail sector, technology and business change in an integrated way. The principle technologies are as follows:

• European Train Control System (ETCS): this allows trains to run closer together and to travel at their best speeds while maintaining safe braking distances.
• Connected Driver Advisory Systems (CDAS) and Automatic Train Operation (ATO): these provide decision support to drivers in the cab so that they have the information they need at the right time to boost performance and safety.
• Traffic Management (TM): maximises performance as trains flow across the network, maximising the throughput that existing track can support and adapting in real-time as network conditions change to aid rapid recovery.
• Telecoms and data, through FTN and GSM-R, will underpin and connect all these systems.
• Working with stakeholders across the rail industry is increasing capability and expertise. This will enable the workforce and industry to adopt new technologies and ways of working, to maximise the benefits of the new systems.