From ambition to action: my commitment to accelerating ETCS deployment in Europe

Some thoughts after the 19th edition of the Deutsche Bahn Symposium on Competition and Regulation in Berlin, 29 Jan 2026. 

Happy to have been on the opening of this high-quality forum on the rail agenda in Germany together with Evelyn Palla, who gave a powerful speech on DB ambition and reforms.

I see Germany as a game changer for moving forward with the highly needed ERTMS roll-out in Europe. The current level of ETCS deployment in Europe remains still too low. Beyond everyone’s awareness on the ambition of the legal deadlines, a critical mass needs to be formed for concretely moving forward - faster and in a coordinated manner.

The path is challenging, with clear constraints linked to the varying levels of network digitalisation, the varying combinations with the legacy systems, as well as linked to costs.

But the ambition is clear: moving consistently and faster towards ETCS-only deployment through fully standardised specifications will give us the long-expected benefits of capacity, safety, interoperability and cost-effective operations. Until we will have done that, we risk remaining caught in complexity and transition management.

💪 It is for sure an act of courage and determination.

The impacts on the investment plans for the German authorities and for the infrastructure managers are not negligible. And nor are those on the railway operators whose onboard investments are impacted or on the EU railway industry in terms of delivery response. 

🤝 It is in fact a joint ambition.

What am I ready to bring from the European Union Agency for Railways side? A partnership. With at least the following:

• Good, standardised and stable specifications for ETCS solutions (at the level of the engineering and operational rules)
• A constant reflection on cost/benefit for any change introduced to the system, including for the evolution to FRMCS
• Streamlined authorisation processes, in particular for massive retrofitting
• Facilitating the sharing of experience and lessons learnt from other large-scale ETCS deployment initiatives in Europe
• Open eyes and ears to feedback from all the stakeholders involved

Much looking forward to bridging the path from ambition to practice. We need a critical mass to move ahead.