Alstom supplies ETCS for maintenance vehicles in Switzerland

20 June 2019 – Alstom will equip eleven maintenance vehicles from Harsco Rail Europe for the Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (SBB/Swiss) with the ETCS system ATLAS 200 Baseline 3. The vehicles are to be fully equipped by the end of 2020 and then used on the SBB network in Switzerland. 

“We are constantly developing our signaling systems and look forward to providing Harsco and our long-standing customer SBB with a future-proofed solution. As the market leader in the field of on-board ETCS systems in Europe, we are pioneers in today's digital rail world,” says Gian Luca Erbacci, Senior Vice President of Alstom in Europe.



ETCS is a vital part of the European standard for an interoperable and safer railway system in Europe. It enforces compliance by the train with speed restrictions and signalling status. The ETCS system ATLAS 200 from Alstom optimises line capacity in complete safety by anticipating and adapting the speed of the trains through continuous train control and supervision via a radio-based signalling system.

Alstom is a global railway player working with international expertise: Project lead is situated in Berlin, Germany; System-design, equipment, as well as commissioning and warranty is led by the Alstom site in Charleroi (Belgium); components will be delivered from Villeurbanne (France).

To date, Alstom has a total of 8,200 vehicles awarded worldwide with ETCS with over 3.200 in commercial service and 18,000 km of track contracted with over 7.000 in commercial service. In Switzerland alone, Alstom has equipped around 500 existing SBB vehicles with ETCS in recent years. For Deutsche Bahn, Alstom has fitted ETCS to the majority of the high-speed ICE fleet in Germany.