THE Belgian federal government confirmed on May 16 a two-year postponement of the requirement for all trains operating on the national network to be equipped with ETCS.
The deadline for completion of the rollout was originally December 14 2025, but some high-speed trains have still not been equipped with ETCS, and the government estimates that the network would lose up to 30% of potential traffic if the trains were banned.
The extension may not be long enough for French National Railways (SNCF) which currently operates around 15 TGV Réseau high-speed trains from Brussels to destinations in southern and western France. For SNCF trains, ETCS is required to operate on the 14km of conventional railway between the end of the high-speed line from France and Brussels Midi station.
SNCF has decided not to equip these trains with ETCS as it plans to replace them with new TGV M double-deck trains which will be fitted with ETCS during construction. However, SNCF does not envisage introducing these trains in Belgium before the end of 2029 at the earliest.
The ETCS deadline also applies to freight operators. It is estimated that only 78% of freight locomotives currently operating in Belgium will be equipped with ETCS by the end of this year, mainly due to the lack of onboard equipment available on the market and delays at suppliers.
The Belgian government feared that operators would divert many freight trains from the port of Antwerp to Rotterdam in the Netherlands if the ban had been implemented at the end of this year.
Infrastructure manager Infrabel expects all of the Belgian network to be equipped with ETCS by the end of 2025, although coverage is currently only 83%.
