EU urges faster ERTMS rollout in third plan
Europe’s ERTMS coordinator says deployment remains uneven and behind schedule, with ETCS on about 10% of TEN-T by the end of 2024.
The European Commission’s ERTMS Coordinator, Matthias Ruete, has published a third work plan on deployment progress across member states, warning the pace is still below what EU targets require.
By the end of 2024, ETCS was deployed on about 10% of the TEN-T network, around 12,400 km, while some 19% of the EU railway fleet — 8,730 vehicles — was equipped.
What the plan says needs to change
Ruete calls for stronger governance and tighter cross-border coordination to make deployment more consistent and timely along corridors.
The plan also stresses the need for stable, long-term financing so infrastructure managers, operators and suppliers can commit to multi-year investment decisions.
It argues the rollout must move beyond project-by-project implementation toward coordinated action plans at network level, treating ERTMS as a system modernisation that combines technical, operational and organisational change.
Under EU milestones, ERTMS is required on the TEN-T core network by 2030, with deployment gradually extending to the rest of the TEN-T network by 2050.