GERMANY: A dedicated national ERTMS Coordination Office is to manage the country’s lagging digitalisation of signalling and safety systems. One of the key tasks of the body will be allocating funding for the costly process of equipping rolling stock with onboard ETCS units.
Transport ministry BMV said on April 17 that it was pushing ahead with the digitalisation of railway signalling, announcing the launch of a centralised ‘ERTMS Coordination Office’. The office, according to the ministry, will serve “as the central point of contact for the entire rail sector” regarding questions about the rollout of ERTMS and ETCS. It added that the new body would also be coordinating the funding for the fitting of relevant onboard equipment on existing trains.
The agreement to launch the unit follows a ‘Round Table on Digitalisation’ held in mid-April. This was initiated by BMV to streamline the switch to ERTMS. The ministry said the new office would feature a steering committee to make decisions, led by BMV and bringing together several key players from across the German rail sector.
The committee will include infrastructure manager DB InfraGO, the country’s regional governments, key public transport authorities represented by the BSN association of local rail providers, and several train operator associations: VDV, the main German industry association for rail operators; Mofair, which speaks for private passenger rail players; and Die Güterbahnen, which represents the country’s private rail freight operators.
BMV said that the group would “commence its work immediately” with a structural review to be undertaken in June next year.
Germany’s lagging rollout
Launch of the office comes ata. key juncture for the roll-out of digital rail technology in Germany; by the end of 2024, just 1.6% of the national rail network had been equipped with ETCS, leaving the country far behind its own target of full deployment by 2040. At that pace, industry group Allianz pro Schiene warned that even reaching half that target within the timeframe would be difficult.
The German rail lobbying group said the process had been slowed by what it described as a lack of central coordination, an absence of a clear national deployment sequence, and unresolved questions over funding, particularly for the retrofitting of rolling stock. According to one EU report last year, the average price for upgrading to onboard ETCS equipment has risen to around €900,000 per vehicle, roughly double the level seen four years ago.
The group explicitly called for a more centralised approach, urging the federal government to bring together the states, infrastructure managers and industry stakeholders to agree a binding national strategy covering rollout sequencing, funding and responsibilities — a structure that the new coordination office is now intended to provide. It also warned that Germany risked repeating missed opportunities if ETCS was not integrated into wider infrastructure renewals, pointing to the Berlin – Hamburg route modernisation, where the line was closed for nine months for extensive renovation works without ETCS being included on all sections.
‘Some catching up to do’
More broadly, Allianz pro Schiene at the time pointed to the absence of confirmed financial support for operators required to retrofit their fleets, arguing that without clear timelines and funding commitments, companies had little incentive to invest early. With BMV’s latest statement admitting that Germany still has “some catching up to do, both in the digitalisation of the rail infrastructure and in the conversion of trains with digital technology,” the ERTMS Coordination Office appears intended to address these gaps.
“With this coordination office, the Federal Ministry of Transport is actively driving forward the digitalisation of the railways,” said Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder on announcing the new body. “Together with our partners, we will ensure that the necessary measures are implemented quickly and that the German rail network becomes fit for the demands of the future.”