Greece is submitting a proposal to the European Union’s Council of Transport Ministers to accelerate the development of European railway safety systems, at the initiative of Deputy Minister of Transport Konstantinos Kyranakis. The Greek proposal is co-signed by Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Romania, supporting the need to simplify and accelerate ERTMS certification, testing, and licensing procedures at the European level.
The initiative by the Greek Deputy Minister focuses on an issue that currently affects the development of European railway infrastructure. In many cases, the procedures for testing, compatibility assessment, certification, and authorization take as long as—or even longer than—the time required to install these systems. This situation slows down the operational deployment of critical safety and interoperability technologies, such as the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), which is a key tool for the safe and seamless operation of the European rail network.
In the text submitted to the Council, Greece points out that the practical implementation of procedures for the certification, authorization, testing, and integration of railway systems continues to be characterized by complexity, fragmentation, and limited predictability. These difficulties directly affect the pace of ERTMS development, the progress of trans-European transport networks (TEN-T), as well as European goals for safe, competitive, and sustainable transport.
The Greek proposal is based on four pillars
The Greek proposal is based on four key pillars: greater mutual recognition of systems already approved in Member States, more stable technical standards, more flexible management of changes to specifications, and a stronger supporting role for the European Railway Agency (ERA).
At the same time, Greece emphasizes that simplifying procedures in no way implies a reduction in safety requirements or a limitation of the powers of national authorities. On the contrary, the goal is to create a more effective, harmonized, and predictable European framework that will allow projects to move more quickly from completion to actual operation for the benefit of citizens, safety, and European connectivity.
Deputy Minister of Transport Konstantinos Kyranakis stated: “Greece is today bringing a practical initiative to the Council of Transport Ministers to accelerate the development of European railway safety systems. In many cases, testing, certification, and licensing procedures continue to delay the commissioning of critical systems, even after their installation has been completed.
Together with seven other Member States, we are calling for simpler, more predictable, and more harmonized European procedures, without any compromise on safety. When a system has already been assessed and is operating safely in one Member State, Europe must rely more on mutual trust and less on repetitive procedures. Our goal is for systems that enhance the safety and interoperability of European railways to move more quickly from installation to operation, for the benefit of citizens and European connectivity.”