Most railway systems in Europe have been developed on the national level or even on regional-technical level, leading to a heterogeneous system at the European level. A common EU railway system architecture is lacking, making innovations and changes to the whole system difficult and costly.

CER & EIM members support a common European vision of the railway sector through the System Pillar (SP), as part of Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (ERJU). The System Pillar brings together rail sector representatives under a single coordination body. The primary objective of the System Pillar is to develop a coordinated approach to the evolution of the rail system and the strategic vision of the Single European Railways Area (SERA). This includes, among others, considerations related to cyber-security, command, control, and signalling systems (CCS), and Digital Automated Coupling (DAC).

CER & EIM believe that a harmonised/standardised architecture is crucial for the future of the European railway system and that the System Pillar plays a central role in defining this architecture. To unlock the full potential of the System Pillar, we aim to advance the current approach on how to reach this harmonised architecture.

With this paper, we express our support for the approach of the system pillar, commit to its main objectives, acknowledge its challenges, and foster the usability of its results in order to create the best value for the European Railway system.

Read the full Position Paper :