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High-speed railway and the digital future

Figure 3: Moving Block Principle

Due to the requirements of High-Speed Railways, now and in the future, ETCS Level 3 may be
the optimal signalling solution since it reduces the CAPEX and OPEX linked to these projects,
providing flexibility in terms of transport capacity. Interoperability also ensures competition
and long Life Cycles.

5. Conclusions

Implementation of new technologies in High-Speed Railways takes more time than in other
sectors. One of the main reasons is the need to have Proven-In-Use systems and include
requirements for Safety Critical systems. However digitalization is a trend that is also reaching
the railway and is expected to accelerate railway digitalization during the next few years.
High-Speed Railways will use Digitalization to improve CAPEX and OPEX, to have better travel
experience, to increase the availability figures and reduce carbon footprint. The use of Smart
Data, Cloud Computing and new interoperable systems such as ETCS level 3 will be the artefacts
for this digital future.

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 123