European freight rail corridor

This 1,600 kilometer long section of the Rhine-Alpine corridor successfully uses Thinkproject Document & Communication Management, especially in the area of inventory planning.

Project success with Deutsche Bahn

Project

The Rhine-Alpine Corridor is one of a total of nine Trans-European Networks core network corridors (TEN core network corridors) that form the central trans-European transport network of the European Union. The corridor is around 3,900 kilometres long and links several strong economic areas: the seaports of Zeebrugge, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp, the Rhine-Ruhr area, the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, Basel-Zurich and the region Lombardy with the port of Genoa to the south. The neighbouring countries are Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy with their infrastructure operators Infrabel, ProRail, DB Netz, SBB Infrastructure, BLS Netz and RFI.

ETCS as a train control system should make rail traffic safer, faster and cheaper. To this end, the more than 20 different European train control systems are to be replaced by a uniform and interoperable European standard. The common standards required for this are laid down in the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI).

The route will be equipped with either ETCS Level 1 LS or Level 2 on the individual route sections. The maximum speed on route sections equipped with ETCS Level 1 LS is 160 km/h. The functionality is comparable to today’s punctual train control (PZB).

The important traffic axis between Oberhausen and the Swiss border near Basel will be equipped with modern ETCS train control technology over the next few years. The large-scale ETCS Corridor Rhine-Alpine project covers around 1,600 kilometres and forms the German part of the scope of equipment for the trans-European Rhine-Alpine Corridor. It is one of the busiest traffic axes in Europe and runs from the Dutch seaport of Rotterdam via Holland, Germany, Switzerland, through the new Gotthard Tunnel and Italy to the seaport of Genoa.

ETCS Level 2 is used, among other things, on existing routes in Germany that have electronic interlockings or speeds in excess of 160 km/h. The route is secured in the signal box. The functionality of the continuous train monitoring is comparable to today’s linear train control (LZB).

With ETCS Level 2, information is exchanged between the vehicle and the signal box via the European railways’ own radio system (GSM-R).

3,900 kilometres

overall distance of the Rhine-Alpine corridor

1,600 kilometres

covered in the ETCS Corridor Rhine-Alpine project

20 European train control systems

to be replaced

160 km/h

maximum speed

  • “In order to ensure that everything runs smoothly in the large-scale ETCS Corridor Rhine-Alpine project, Thinkproject Document & Communication Management was brought on board. The use of Thinkproject guarantees us that all project participants are fully involved in the digital examination of the planning documents in good time. In addition, intelligent digitisation ensures the success of construction projects and reduces time, costs and effort.”
    Dipl.-Ing. Hayri Mumcu
    Quality and plan run management expert, ETCS corridor Rhine-Alpine (I.NID 7), DB Netz AG
  • “The collaboration and real-time exchange of data and documents with Thinkproject is indispensable for us in large-scale projects, because on the one hand it enables us to work anywhere and anytime and on the other hand more efficient workflows can be implemented flexibly and reliably.”
    Dipl.-Ing. Hayri Mumcu
    Quality and plan run management expert, ETCS corridor Rhine-Alpine (I.NID 7), DB Netz AG
Successful digitisation with Thinkproject’s CDE INFRASTRUCTURE

Solution

Deutsche Bahn has been working successfully with Thinkproject since 2010. The existing framework agreement was extended until 2024.

To optimise the processes for inventory plan management, a solution was worked on to facilitate the provision (information inventory plans) and blocking of plans. The aim was to avoid unnecessary closures. Only plans that actually need to be updated, changed or deleted as part of the construction project should be blocked. Other plans should be requested “for information only”.

Road winding through mountains
As-Built Plan Management

Result

This goal was achieved through complex coordination with the overall project as well as the project participants, IZ-Plan employees and Thinkproject. The result was the new module “Info/Inventory Planning”. The information/inventory planning module has been used in all 3 sub-areas of the major project since 2020. The module was used for the first time in a major project and is now also being used successfully in other projects.

In order to automate the processes for this complex project with many participants, Thinkproject programmed its own workflow individually in coordination with the large-scale project ETCS Corridor Rhine-Alpine and tailored it to the needs. The module plan management (digital plan check run with DOWEBA interface to the Federal Railway Authority) and inventory plan management (info inventory planning) have been used since 2020. The information as-built planning is the first project of its kind and applied for the first time in coordination with IZ-Plan. It is now also being used successfully in other projects.

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