Requirements on On Board Control Command and Signalling systems (CCS)

Requirements for authorisation

Requirements for the Swedish part of the rail system within the European Union, including vehicles, are found in the Railway Technology Act (2022:366). Subsystems and interoperability constituents shall fulfil requirements from the relevant technical specifications for interoperability (TSI) and national requirements.

For vehicles with ETCS/GSM-R, the requirements in the valid version of TSI Control-Command and signalling (TSI CCS) must be fulfilled.

The valid national technical requirements (NTR) for on-board control-command and signalling systems are found in our regulation.

TSFS 2022:36 Transportstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om järnvägsfordon (nationella regler). (Regulation in Swedish.)

Requirements for national railways and vehicles, i.e. outside the Swedish part of the rail system within the European Union, are found in the National Railway Act (2022:368).

Train Protection system

For the Swedish part of the rail system within the European Union, new railway vehicles with driver’s cab shall have ERTMS (European Railway Traffic Management System) on-board, as required in the valid version of TSI CCS. New railway vehicles authorised from 1 January 2019 shall have an ERTMS Baseline 3 system on-board. TSI CCS allows some types of new vehicles to be without ERTMS, please check the valid version of the TSI for details.

The Swedish railway net has a common national train protection system, ATC2 (a class B-system). This system is being replaced during the next decades. The European interoperability directive requires that ERTMS shall replace the national class B systems.

Vehicles equipped with ERTMS may also operate on ATC2-lines. To do this, the vehicle has to have an STM (Specific Transmission Module) which translates the ATC2-messages from the track to the ERTMS on-board system.

For national trains, there are no absolute requirements for a train protection system. However, there is a generic requirement to maintain the level of safety when authorising a new or modified vehicle. The effect of this generic requirement is that a vehicle for an infrastructure with ATP system should have an ATP system installed on-board. For a network without ATP system, the operational rules of the network may have to be revised because of the new vehicles.

Radio Communication

All railway vehicles with a driver’s cab shall have a radio communication system on-board; this system shall be compatible with the infrastructure communication system. For railway vehicles, a GSM-R system has to be installed. This requirement is not applicable to shunters or OTMs which are never in contact with the train dispatcher. National railway vehicles may have a different type of train radio system then GSM-R, depending on the railway.

New vehicles equipped with a driver’s cab shall have a train radio according to the specifications stated in TSI Control-Command and Signalling. These specifications state that the train radio system should be provided with protection against disturbances from other telecommunication networks equipped with broadband system types UMTS and LTE. Existing vehicles with a driver’s cab should also be equipped with protection against such disturbances, e.g. a frequency filter.

These specifications are valid also for the radio in the ERTMS on-board system (EDOR). In Sweden, the telecom operators are now allowed to connect their so called 4G-networks, which may cause disturbances on the railroad’s GSM-R frequencies, unless a suitable filter is used.

Applied TSIs

Our webpage for technical authorisation of railways has a list with links to valid versions of the technical specifications of interoperability (TSI). The list includes a link to TSI CCS, with requirements for ERTMS and GSM‑R.

Technical authorisation

For authorisation of a subsystem that has to fulfil TSI requirements, the applicant has to engage a Notified Body (NoBo). The NoBo checks that the subsystem fulfils the TSI requirements.

The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) have made guidelines for the application of TSIs. ERA have also made a template for a NoBo to use when indicating restrictions, conditions and added functions in their certificates for a CCS subsystem. You will find the guideline and the template on ERAs webpage for ERTMS.

European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS)

The Swedish Transport Agency have over the years issued some technical documents and guidelines to facilitate the application of TSIs and authorisation of rail vehicles. Here are links to three guidelines (in Swedish) regarding control-command and signalling subsystems. They are, however, only to be used in applicable parts. The guidelines are partly dated, not adopted to the fourth railway package, and references etc. are not updated.

 

National requirements

A TSI compliant subsystem shall fulfil the TSI requirements and notified national requirements. The national requirements valid for a vehicle applying for authorisation on the Swedish part of the rail system within the European Union are found in our regulation. The national requirements for the on-board control-command and signalling system are in chapter 3.

TSFS 2022:36 Transportstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om järnvägsfordon (nationella regler). (Regulation in Swedish.)

There is a guideline in English for this regulation, TSG 2015-185, Supplementary information: Assessment of railway vehicles interaction with Swedish railway infrastructure and other vehicle functions. You will find the guideline on our webpage with requirements on locomotives and passenger units:

Requirements on locomotives and passenger units

The national requirements shall be assessed by a Designated body (DeBo), and the applicant has to engage a DeBo in the authorisation process. When the assessment is completed, the DeBo shall draw up a certificate showing the subsystem’s fulfilment of the national requirements. Transportstyrelsen designates DeBos in Sweden.

A new STM for the Swedish class B system (ATC2) shall, when integrated in a vehicle, have abilities and functions compatible with the trackside part of ATC2. To achieve this, the STM specifications below should be used. The standards EN 50126, EN 50128 and EN 50129 are mandatory to apply, later versions than the versions referenced in the specifications may be used.

The following set of specifications are applicable for an STM used with an ETCS on-board compliant with baseline 3.6:

STM FRS BVS 544.65001, version 6.1, 2017-05-12

STM General Technical Requirements 100200 E004  TR GRS, version 6.1 

The following set of specifications are applicable for an STM used with an ETCS on-board compliant with basline 3.4:

STM FRS BVS 544.65001, version 6.0, 2014-11-07

STM General Technical Requirements 100200 E004 TR GRS, version 6.0 

The following set of specifications are applicable for an STM used with an ETCS on-board compliant with baseline 2 (2.3.0d):

STM FRS BVS 544.65001, version 5.2, 2014-11-07    

STM General Technical Requirements 100200 E004,TR GRS version 5.2, 2014-10-08

The following set of specifications defines the earlier STM version 5.1. The specifications are still valid and applicable parts may be used. The version 5.2 includes some corrections of errors in version 5.1.

STM FRS BVS 544.65001, version 5.1, 2009-10-28

STM General Technical Requirements Specification 100200 E004, version 5.1, 2009-10-28

The document below is applicable for all versions mentioned above.

The STM manufacturer shall be clear on which requirements the STM fulfills and on the requirements on safety related interfaces to the rolling stock

Safe integration between the on-board to the trackside Control Command and Signalling subsystems

When authorising a vehicle, it will be checked that the vehicle, including the CCS on-board subsystem, fulfils all essential requirements when integrated into the railway system. The safe integration between the on-board and the trackside CCS systems will also be checked.

An authorised vehicle or vehicle type has a specified train protection system and a specified radio system on-board, and it has to be proven that these on-board CCS systems are compatible and safely integrated with the trackside part of the CCS system.

For the ERTMS and GSM-R lines in the Swedish part of the rail system within the European Union this is managed through ETCS system compatibility (ESC) and radio system compatibility (RSC) parameters. Infrastructure managers are responsible for defining parameters and test cases for ESC and RSC, and to apply to ERA for approval of these. More information about CCS system compatibility and ERA approved ESC/RSC parameters can be found on ERA’s webpage for ERTMS.

European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS)

If an on-board CCS subsystem is changed, the party responsible for the change has to make sure that the updated system continues to fulfil the ESC/RSC parameter test cases.

How ESC/RSC parameters affect the authorisation of trackside CCS is described on our webpage:

Requirements on trackside control-command and signalling systems

The safe integration between the vehicle and a specific railway line is not part of the vehicle authorisation. This is managed through route compatibility checks, described in the safety management system of the railway undertaking. It is the responsibility of the railway undertaking to use the vehicle only on lines with infrastructure that is compatible and safely integrated with the vehicle.

Train protection systems for national vehicles

For national vehicles, i.e. vehicles outside the Swedish part of the rail system within the European Union, new or updated train protection systems are allowed. The new or modified system has to be proven safe. This can be accomplished by the use of standards EN 50126, EN 50128 and EN 50129. The standards define a process to use, and the evidence for all safety activities has to be assembled in a structured safety case. An independent safety assessor (ISA) has to assess the evidence and produce a report with the assessment result.

An ISA for a national vehicle has to be accepted by the Swedish Transport Agency. To avoid unnecessary work, it is suitable to ask for this acceptance before the ISA starts to work. To be accepted, the ISA must be independent from the project under assessment and have the necessary knowledge about both the technical system under assessment and the process for achieving safe systems.