Modernising Rail: The Digital Advantage in ERTMS Projects

Europe’s push to modernise rail is accelerating, yet delivering ERTMS across a patchwork of legacy systems and national rules remains notoriously hard. The next frontier is not just deployment, but doing it consistently and efficiently—an ambition increasingly achievable through digital delivery methods that bring rigour, transparency and speed to complex programmes.

Why ERTMS Implementation Is Hard

The European Rail Traffic Management System is designed to standardise train control and signalling, boosting safety, capacity and cross-border interoperability. In practice, the path to that vision is complicated by decades of divergent engineering and regulation.

• Fragmented legacy environments: National signalling and control systems were never built for interoperability, making integration with ETCS and GSM-R/FRMCS technically demanding.
• Cross-border compliance: Differing regulations, acceptance processes and operational practices create integration and certification bottlenecks.
• Brownfield deployment: Upgrades on live networks drive cost, require access planning, and risk disruption to operations.
• Safety and continuity: Maintaining safe operations during transition, while standards evolve, adds layers of testing and assurance.
• Multi-stakeholder governance: Infrastructure managers, operators, suppliers and authorities must coordinate tightly over long timelines and complex interfaces.

Traditional delivery models struggle to cope with this complexity. Programmes need robust engineering coupled with digitally enabled governance to reduce rework, compress schedules and keep risks visible.

The Digital Delivery Toolkit

Model-based design, connected data environments and digital twins are reshaping how ERTMS is planned, built and assured—bringing lifecycle traceability and real-time validation to the fore.

• Integrated 3D modelling (model-based design): Early clash detection across signalling, telecoms and civil assets reduces redesign and track access pressure. Virtual prototyping validates layouts and interfaces before site works.
• Common data environments (CDE): A single source of truth for versions, configurations and approvals supports transparent collaboration across disciplines and suppliers, with audit-ready change histories.
• 4D/5D construction simulation: Time and cost-linked models enable precise possession planning, resource optimisation and cost control—minimising disruption to live operations.
• Digital twins of signalling and infrastructure: Behavioural models simulate interlockings, ETCS logic and asset interactions, enabling earlier validation, scenario testing and predictive maintenance strategies.
• Continuous assurance: Requirements-to-test traceability and automated rules checking align designs with standards and safety cases, cutting late-stage surprises.

Together, these capabilities create a delivery system that is scalable across corridors and countries, supporting consistent quality while adapting to local requirements.

Case in Point: Denmark’s Nationwide Rollout

Banedanmark’s signalling programme illustrates digital delivery at scale. Replacing more than 50 legacy systems across roughly 2,600 kilometres, the team adopted a fully digital approach to manage risk and complexity.

• Integrated 3D models and a connected data environment aligned multidisciplinary designs, enabling earlier clash detection and fewer field changes.
• Digital twins simulated signalling logic and asset behaviour, reducing reliance on costly on-site testing and accelerating acceptance.
• 4D simulations improved possession planning and limited service disruption during construction and commissioning.

The outcome: tighter coordination, more predictable schedules and a repeatable delivery pattern—offering a blueprint for large-scale ERTMS programmes elsewhere.

Open Standards and the Partner Ecosystem

Technology partners are central to making digital delivery work across multivendor, multijurisdictional programmes. Interoperability—both technical and organisational—is non-negotiable. Open standards and APIs enable tools to share data across the supply chain, protecting configuration control and reducing vendor lock-in.

Vendors such as Bentley Systems, with decades of experience in rail, provide integrated solutions for model-based design, construction simulation and asset performance within connected data environments. Crucially, support for open standards and interoperability allows these platforms to fit into existing toolchains and national systems—vital in ERTMS contexts where data consistency, traceability and collaboration determine programme success.

Funding Momentum in the EU

European funding instruments—including the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)—are accelerating modernisation. By offsetting transformation costs and aligning with sustainability and interoperability goals, these funds create a timely opportunity to embed digital delivery practices that pay back over the entire lifecycle.

What Good Looks Like

• Data-first from day one: Begin with a robust data audit and establish governance for configurations, versions and access.
• Adopt a CDE: Make the common data environment the authoritative source for designs, decisions and approvals.
• Pilot then scale: Prove toolchains and processes on a corridor, codify lessons learned, and roll out systematically.
• Link programme and safety assurance: Tie requirements to tests and evidence, maintaining a live digital thread.
• Invest in people and process: Train multidisciplinary teams and embed model-based workflows into contracts and KPIs.

The promise of ERTMS—safer, higher-capacity, interoperable rail—depends on more than technology choices. It requires an operating model built on shared data, model-based engineering and continuous assurance. With digital delivery, Europe can move from bespoke national deployments to repeatable, high-quality rollouts—cutting risk, reducing disruption and accelerating benefits for passengers and freight alike.