To organize a safe railway network, it is fundamental to have a robust signalling and speed control system. At the European level, the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system deployed for the management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). The ERTMS ensures interoperability of the national railway systems, reducing the purchasing and maintenance costs of the signalling systems as well as increasing the speed of trains, the capacity of infrastructure and the level of safety in rail transport.
ERTMS notably included the European Train Control System (ETCS), i.e. a cab-signalling system that incorporates automatic train protection. The technical specifications of ETCS are published in one of the Commission implementing regulations supporting Directive (EU) 796/2016, the Control Command and Signalling TSI (CCS TSI). This TSI concerns the control command and signalling on-board and trackside subsystems. It applies to control-command and signalling on-board subsystems of vehicles which are (or are intended to be) operated on control-command and signalling trackside subsystems of the rail network of the European Union.
In this framework, CEN plays a key role with the development of standards supporting the requirements of the CCS TSI. EN 16494:2025 ‘Railway applications - Requirements for ERTMS Trackside Boards’ is a central standard for the requirements of these legislation. EN 16494:2025 has been developed by CEN/TC 256 ‘Railway applications’ for the specification and harmonization of a specific set of ERTMS trackside boards to support ETCS and GSM-R operations, in the framework of the standardization request M/591 in support of Directive (EU) 796/2016.
It is applicable to the heavy rail system, and it defines the requirements for the provision, visibility, readability, maintenance and testing of a specific set of ERTMS trackside boards associated with a series of DMI and ETCS track conditions: going from ETCS stop marker and location marker, level transition, GSM-R network border marker and numerous categories of traction announcement, and including safe stopping area announcements and indications for start or end.
This new edition of the standard encompasses a series of changes with respect to the previous version:
- clarification of the scope to exclude mobile, backlit and temporary signs;
- dimensional corrections to the ETCS Stop Marker and ETCS Location Marker;
- introduction of new trackside boards (traction system 25 kV, 15 kV, 3000 V, 1500 V and 750 V, audible warning device, safe stopping area, non-stopping area, inhibition of magnetic shoe brake, inhibition of eddy current brake, inhibition of regenerative brake and level crossing marker);
- an option for diamond-shaped trackside boards (electric traction MBs only);
- clarification to existing maintenance requirements;
- revision of the options for standard dimensions.
EN 16494:2025 is a new contribution of CEN to the development of the Single European Railway network. It facilitates the work of the operators and infrastructure managers in managing the signalling for railways by the European Union but also the work of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) in the updates of the Control Command and Signalling TSI and thus more globally the application of Directive (EU) 796/2016.
EN 16494:2025 was developed by CEN/TC 256, the Secretariat of which is held by DIN.
Marc-Antoine CARREIRA DA CRUZ
macarreira@cencenelec.eu
