Infrastructure Perspectives On Complex Multi-Stakeholder Co-ordination, Governance & Readiness

Across Europe, infrastructure managers are carrying the heaviest coordination burden of ETCS Level 2 deployment — balancing national strategy, corridor obligations, budget constraints, and day-to-day operational continuity.

IMs are expected to deliver stable ETCS rollouts while aligning multiple operators, mixed fleets, cross-border neighbours, and evolving standards, often on different timelines and with different incentives.

This event is designed to support IMs navigating that complexity — sharing proven approaches to joint planning, governance, migration sequencing, and operational coordination with passenger, freight, and high-speed operators, so ETCS Level 2 delivers long-term value rather than recurring disruption.

For IMs Delivering ETCS Level 2 at Network or Corridor Scale

Participate in discussions on:

• Coordination and operational readiness models that actually work between IMs, operators, freight and passenger operators, including cross-border contexts 
• Governance structures that reduce friction, clarify decision rights, and prevent programme drift
• Migration sequencing logic that aligns infrastructure cutovers with  rolling stock readiness
• Ways to stabilise baselines and authorisation pathways to avoid repeated rework and escalating cost

Coordinating with Freight Operators

Learn about:

· How to accommodate freight realities without compromising network-wide ETCS objectives

· Managing intermittent ETCS exposure, cross-border operations, and degraded-mode expectations

· Joint planning of retrofit windows, testing, and authorisation to avoid stranded assets

· Creating fair cost and risk-sharing models that prevent freight from becoming a systemic bottleneck

Coordinating with Regional & Lower-Density Passenger Operators

· How to scale ETCS Level 2 appropriately where traffic density and resources are limited

· How to avoid one-size-fits-all mandates that undermine regional service reliability

· What level of operational readiness, training, and simulation is proportionate?

· How to manage mixed signalling coexistence without long-term operational fragility

Coordinating with High-Speed & High-Capacity Passenger Operators

· How others have aligned high-performance ETCS objectives with wider network constraints

· How to manage tight timetables, limited access windows, and complex cutovers

· How to coordinate ATO readiness, degraded-mode handling, and control-room integration

· How to protect flagship corridors from instability caused elsewhere on the network

Joint Operational Readiness — Where IMs and Operators Succeed or Fail Together

· How to design joint operational concepts for degraded mode that actually hold up in service

· How to align driver, signaller, and control-room readiness across organisational boundaries

· How to use simulation, labs, and virtual lines to replace disruptive on-track testing

· How to maintain trust and confidence during rollout slippage, rather than eroding it

Strategic & Financial Questions 

· How to ensure ETCS Level 2 investment delivers durable value over 20–30 years

· How today’s decisions interact with FRMCS timing, baseline evolution, and future upgrades

· How to avoid locking the network into permanent transition states that inflate OPEX

· How to demonstrate value to funders, ministries, and regulators — not just technical compliance