Influence of ETCS on line capacity - Generic study

Transport capacity of railway lines can be significantly influenced by the nature and configuration of the under laying Command-Control and Signalling (CCS) systems. In the past, different approaches have been realised in context with the various national legacy CCS systems. For the new standardised ETCS, there is a need for a common understanding of the effect on line capacity. Thereby the influence of various application parameters, like application level, operational mode or the parameterisation of braking curves is of prime interest. This study has been commissioned by UIC to the Institute of Transport Science of the RWTH University at Aachen, which has already been in charge of elaboration of the UIC code 406 "Capacity". As there exists no absolute value for capacity consumption, this study is investigating the effect of ETCS for typical application cases of high-speed or conventional rail service on main and secondary lines.