The European Railway Agency (ERA) has approved the newest version of the ETCS onboard system of Alstom’s TRAXX Universal locomotives. The decision means that these locomotives can continue operating on international corridors, which is especially important for Czech freight carriers.
“With the fully approved version VR01.5, our customers can continue to operate locomotives on corridors in Germany, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia”, commented Dan Kurucz, managing director of Alstom for Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The new version of Alstom’s onboard system enables corridor interoperability under ETCS Baseline 3. “Notably, it reopens operations in Austria, where ETCS-only operations are authorised on dual-equipped Class B lines”, writes Alstom.
“Cross-border traffic is very important for freight transport in Europe. With the fully approved version VR01.5, our customers can continue to operate locomotives on corridors in Germany, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia. This is an important step not only for us at Alstom, but for European rail interoperability as a whole,” Dan Kurucz added.
RegioJet and ČD Cargo
According to Alstom, the approval is particularly important for two Czech freight operators: RegioJet and ČD Cargo. RegioJet has 13 locomotives with software version VR01.5, of which six have been in operation in Czechia since late 2024 with a test permit. ČD Cargo has locomotives equipped with version VR01.2, which can now be upgraded to the new version.