Karel Vinck

European Coordinator for ERTMS, Mr Karel Vinck

Mr Karel Vinck was born on 19 September 1938, in Aalst, Belgium. Mr Vinck was appointed European Coordinator for ERTMS in July 2005 and reappointed European Coordinator for ERTMS on 12 March 2014.

Karel Vinck is a former CEO of the Belgian National Railway Company (SNCB) and a former Chairman of CER (The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies).

He started his career as a consultant for Eternit in Italy and later became Chief Executive Officer of the Eternit group and of the Bekaert group. Next he joined Umicore as CEO and later as Chairman. In the meantime he restructured Sibelco. After his time at the head of SNCB, Karel Vinck accepted the chairmanship of the Board of BAM, the company which manages investments in mobility of the city of Antwerp.

As European ERTMS Coordinator for the European Commission, he now leads the ERTMS deployment. In this role, he supervises the implementation of ERTMS on the nine Core Network Corridors.

Karel Vinck completed his studies in civil engineering and electro-mechanics at the K.U.Leuven, obtained a degree in production management (Ghent University) and a MBA at Cornell University (USA).

He is honorary Chairman of VOKA (VEV) - the Flemish employers' association.

He was elected Manager of the Year in 1994 and received the European Railway Award in 2012.

Activities

Seminar of the European Coordinators, Brussels, 18-19 December 2018

Mr Vinck attended the Seminar of the European Coordinators aimed at reviewing the progress made in TEN-T policy. The agenda of the meeting encompassed five main points:
1.Debate on the TEN-T network and its cross-border priorities
2.Discussion with Commissioner Violeta Bulc on CEF 2
3.Debate on the report on growth and jobs induced by completion of TEN-T
4.Debate on facilitating the TEN-T implementation and its dual use
5.Debate on the mid-term review
During the Seminar Mr Vinck gave a presentation on ERTMS deployment and interoperability, focusing on the deployment of ERTMS on core network corridors. He stressed especially the importance of the ownership principle. Matthias Ruete, the incoming Coordinator for ERTMS, presented his vision for the future, emphasising the need of digitalisation of railways, automated trains, satellite navigation systems, thus making rail the transport mode of the future, with the overarching objective of being cleaner, more efficient and putting the citizen at the centre. Both Coordinators raised the problem of cross-broader sections, which must be addressed in order to render the European rail network truly interoperable. The ensuing discussion with the European Coordinators touched upon the issues of uniform understanding of technical specifications (also at a political level) and delays in project implementation.
At the end of this event, Commissioner Bulc expressed her gratitude to Mr Vinck, whose mandate as Coordinator ended on 31 December 2018, for his work.

Meeting with Mr Borghini, Brussels, 17 December 2018

Mr Vinck met Mr Carlo Borghini, Executive Director Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking. Mr Vinck learned about the ongoing works of Shift2Rail in the domain of ERTMS. Mr Borghini shared with Mr Vinck his vision as to the future developments of the technology, especially regarding the communication systems. Mr Vinck insisted on the need to plan the activities in relation to the priorities of various programmes implemented at the European level, where the European Commission has the decisive role for objective setting.

Meeting with Mr Kerckaert, Brussels, 17 December 2018

Mr Vinck met Mr Koen Kerckaert, Director-General of SNCB. The meeting focused on the issue of ETCS on-board deployment in Belgium and especially on the rolling stock operating on the cross-border line between Belgium and Luxembourg.

Meeting with representatives of Siemens and Alstom, Brussels, 11 December 2018

Mr Vinck attended a meeting between DG MOVE and the representatives of Siemens and Alstom, who outlined the global picture of the rail suppliers market and presented the current state of play as regards the discussion on the planned merger of the two companies. Mr Vinck emphasised that that the merger cannot negatively affect the signalling market in Europe.

Rail Freight Day, Vienna, 6 December 2018

Mr Vinck was invited as a speaker to the 2018 Rail Freight Day conference that gathered representatives of governance boards of the rail freight corridors, Member States’ ministries, rail infrastructure managers, railway undertakings, rail regulatory bodies, shippers, multimodal terminal operators and users of rail freight services. The conference was organised by DG MOVE and hosted by RailNetEurope. DG MOVE used the event to reaffirm the Commission’s policy on making rail freight a success as a key element of its freight transport policy and to put it into focus now, in the Year of Multimodality. The event provided a platform for presentations and discussions on all major developments in the rail freight sector. Mr Vinck stressed the need to speed up ERTMS deployment and noted that the sense of urgency is not sufficiently prominent in the rail sector. The rail sector is still too much thinking in terms of the old competitive model and is reluctant to accept that the technology is changing that model. The industry should also deliver standardized equipment at an acceptable price.

Study visit to Switzerland, 27-28 November 2018

Mr Vinck was invited by the Swiss authorities to share their know-how regarding the ERTMS deployment. On 27 November, Mr Vinck met representatives of BLS Cargo and learned about their experiences with ETCS and GSM-R from technical and operational point of view, then he visited the operation centre of BLS Infrastructure in Spiez and had a chance to view from the drivers cab L2 operation in the Lötschberg tunnel. On 28 November Mr Vinck was informed by Federal Office of Transport about the Swiss transport policy, current status of ETCS and GSM-R implementation, key factors for a successful deployment, lessons learned and the SmartRail4.0 vision.

Meeting with Mr Lallemand, Brussels, 26 November 2018

Mr Vinck met Mr Luc Lallemand, Director-General of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Committee of Infrabel, the infrastructure manager of the railways in Belgium. The meeting focused on the issue of ETCS trackside deployment in Belgium and the current and future CEF support in Belgium.

ERTMS CEF Actions' Workshop, Brussels, 22 November 2018

Mr Vinck attended the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) workshop dedicated to ERTMS CEF Actions. During the workshop, a number of pertinent points regarding ERTMS implementation in the EU were raised. They regarded not only problems but also a number of lessons learnt with proposed mitigation measures, concerning among others submission of mature applications, international cooperation for cross-border sections; or early involvement of NoBo, NSA, DMT for monitoring of the authorisation procedure. Mr Vinck stressed that the achievement of goals set out in the European Deployment Plan hinges on the involvement of all stakeholders. He underlined that the priority should be given to OBU BL3 standardisation and cross-border actions maximising implementation by 2023.

Investors' Roundtable, Brussels, 19 November 2018

Mr Vinck attended Investors' Roundtable organised in Brussels by his colleagues, Prof. Bodewig, Coordinator for Motorways of the Sea, and Prof. Secchi, Coordinator for the Atlantic Corridor. The event gathered around 30 representatives of the investment and finance sector, including the EIB, national promotional banks, commercial banks, pension funds, large operators and private investors. The objective of the discussion was to collect feedback and ideas regarding the recommendations made in the Progress Report of January 2018 on the measured outlined in the "Action Plan for making the best use of new financial schemes for European transport infrastructure projects" produced by Prof. Bodewig and Prof. Secchi. The outcome of the various stakeholder consultations will lead to a publication of an addendum to the Progress Report before spring 2019.

Rhine-Alpine Corridor Forum, Brussels, 19 November 2018

The meeting was attended by some 30 stakeholders. Mr Vinck pointed out that the rail sector should be animated by the sense of urgency as next year the European Union will have a new Parliament and a new European Commission. He expressed a view that the Parliament will have a significant different membership. He emphasised that we should be able to convince the new European Parliament that the European rail interoperability project makes sense and is achievable. In this context, Mr Vinck stressed the importance of the Rhine Alpine corridor, as a frontrunner of the ERTMS development in Europe.

ERTMS Platform Coordination subgroup, Brussels, 12 November 2018

Mr Vinck attended the ERTMS Platform Coordination subgroup, where he met representatives of DG MOVE, ERA, CER, UNISIG, UNIFE, EUG, EIM and DMT. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss and agree on the actions underpinning the priorities identified in the ERTMS Platform Board held on the 26th October. The actions were grouped into three main areas: 1) delivering a compatible infrastructure, 2) delivering a successful on-board retrofitting and upgrading programme and 3) horizontal measures.

Meeting with the beneficiaries of the CEF upgrade project and Dutch authorities, Utrecht, 30 October 2018

The objective of the meeting was to address the concerns of the beneficiaries of the Dutch CEF project. The delayed ERTMS trackside deployment negatively affects the business case of project partners. It was stressed that the Dutch scheme constitute a coherent support package and that failure to absorb CEF funds undermines argument for future commitments. Furthermore, Mr Vinck underlined that the priority in Europe is to equip the Rhine Alpine corridor and the diversionary routes with ERTMS as soon as possible. He also urged the Dutch authorities to keep the pace trackside in order to sustain the investments in rolling stock. Mr Vinck stressed the importance of the objectives set out in the European Deployment Plan.

Meeting with Mr Bellot, Belgium Minister of Transport, Brussels, 23 October 2018

Mr Vinck met Mr Bellot to discuss the state of play of ERTMS deployment in Belgium; CEF support for trackside rollout; financial engineering, including public private partnership; stability of the ERTMS specifications and standardisation; and the impact of decommissioning of class B system in Luxembourg on cross-border traffic between those two countries.

Task force ERTMS RFC RALP, Rome – Brussels, 18 October 2018

During a teleconference, the stakeholders informed Mr Vinck about the latest state of play as regards the deployment of ERTMS on the corridor. Mr Vinck emphasised the political and economic importance of having the ERTMS deployed trackside on the whole corridor from Rotterdam to Genoa. In this context, Mr Vinck requested the German authorities to reconsider their strategy as regards the Emmerich-Oberhausen section. Furthermore, the meeting provided also an opportunity to update the stakeholders on the progress on CCS TSI revision.

Meeting with the Dutch authorities, Brussels, 17 October 2018

The meeting was a follow up of the June meeting. The Dutch authorities provided an update on the trackside rollout of ERTMS in the Netherlands and their plans as to the respect of the European commitments. Furthermore, the Dutch ministry explained the reasons for potential withdrawal of some project partners from the CEF 1 upgrade project. In the ensuing discussion, several mitigation measures aimed at preservation of the project were analysed. It was agreed that Mr Vinck will come to Utrecht to attend a forthcoming meeting with the beneficiaries with the aim to convincing them to remain on-board.

Meeting with Mr Citroën, Brussels, 9 October 2018

Mr Vinck met Mr Philippe Citroën, Director-General of UNIFE. Mr Vinck learned about the current state of play as regards the capacity of the rail industry and the main obstacles to the industrial rollout of ERTMS. Mr Vinck underlined the importance of the timely delivery of the system by suppliers for the achievement of the objectives laid down in the European Deployment Plan.

Seminar of the European Coordinators, Brussels, 5 October 2018

European Coordinators gathered in Brussels to discuss topics of common concern, such as the further evolution of the TEN-T and the state of play of the Commission proposal on Connecting Europe Facility 2. Horizontal priorities (ERTMS and Motorways of the Sea), cross-border cooperation, military mobility were also on the agenda. Coordinators welcomed Ms Jensen, Ms Radicova and Mr Ruete as new members of the team and expressed their gratitude to Mr Brinkhorst and Mr Simpson whose mandate as Coordinators ended on 15 September 2018.

ERTMS Policy Board meeting, Brussels, 4 October 2018

Mr Vinck attended the meeting that gathered representatives of DG MOVE, ERA, INEA and S2R. Mr Vinck reiterated the importance of the European Deployment Plan and indicated that if problems are solved now, and the objectives of the European Deployment Plan achieved as planned by 2023, then, after this date, the deployment can be accelerated. Mr Vinck emphasised also the problem of delays in supply of interoperable products. Furthermore, Mr Vinck discussed the ongoing revision of CCS TSI, and in particular, the issue of derogation for Baseline 3 OBUs and tackling class B signalling development; and the CEF support to ERTMS.

Executive Board of the Rail Freight Corridor North Sea – Mediterranean, Brussels, 3 October 2018

Mr Vinck took part in the Executive Board of the Rail Freight Corridor North Sea – Mediterranean. In this framework, he discussed with the stakeholders the progress in implementation of ERTMS along the corridor. In his intervention, Mr Vinck drew the attention of the participants to the implementation of the Technical Pillar of the 4th Railway Package. He also emphasised the importance of the European Deployment Plan. Furthermore, Mr Vinck outlined the state of play of the future Connecting Europe Facility (CEF2) that will include a special allocation for military mobility. Then he requested the participants to provide a feedback on the experience with the present corridor structure, the state of deployment including the issue of decommissioning of class B system in Luxembourg, and, finally, to flag up any matters that should be raised in the discussions at the ministerial level.

Visit and meetings during InnoTrans, Berlin, 18-20 September 2018

Mr Vinck visited InnoTrans, the leading international trade fair for transport technology, taking the opportunity to meet with stakeholders and participate in meetings on ERTMS. On 18 September, Mr Vinck attended the high-level breakfast between DG MOVE Director-General Henrik Hololei and UNISIG CEOs. In his intervention, Mr Vinck drew the attention of the CEOs to the recurrent delays in providing new rolling stock. He stressed that in many cases it takes years from the moment of signing of a contract to receiving the final product. In this context, he urged the sector to enhance the capacity. On the same day, Mr Vinck attended InnoTrans Opening Ceremony, where Mr Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Commissioner Violeta Bulc, delivered keynote speeches. In the morning, Mr Vinck had also a bilateral meeting with Mr Millar Crawford, Executive Vice President of Thales, during which he learned about the experienced challenges as regards retrofitting process. In the afternoon Mr Vinck met German authorities, including Mr Joerg Sump from the Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, and Mr Philipp Buehrsch and Mr Joern Schlichting from Deutsche Bahn, with whom he discussed the progress of ERTMS deployment in Germany and attended the Rail Leaders' Summit conference organised by Deutsche Bahn.
On 19 September, Mr Vinck had a trilateral meeting with Mr. Andres Arizkorreta – the CEO of CAF and Mr Iñigo Balda – Managing Director of CAF Signalling during which he discussed among others the existing obstacles to the industrial deployment of ERTMS.
On 20 September Mr Vinck attended the ERTMS Dialog Forum “ERTMS, the backbone of the digital railway.”

ERTMS Platform Coordination subgroup, Brussels, 12 September 2018

Mr Vinck attended the ERTMS Platform Coordination subgroup, where he met representatives of DG MOVE, ERA, CER, SNCF, RFI, UNISIG, UNIFE, EUG, EIM and DMT. During the meeting, the following points were among others discussed: revision of CCS TSI, standardisation of interactions with Class B systems and other on-board subsystems and the agenda for the Platform Board meeting scheduled for October 2018.

Meeting with Mr Josef Doppelbauer, Executive Director of the EU Agency for Railways (ERA), Brussels, 4 September 2018

Mr Vinck met Mr Doppelbauer, Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) with a view to discussing the issue of standardisation of tendering documents and developing best practices. During the meeting, the draft standard tendering checklist developed by the sector was thoroughly analysed.

Meeting with Danish authorities, Brussels, 29 August 2018

Mr Vinck met Mr Karlshøj from the Danish Ministry of Transport. The Danish authorities provided an update on the revised ERTMS deployment strategy and the impact on the timeline. At present the tests on selected lines are being conducted. The successful finalisation of this step should allow for a gradual rolling out of ERTMS track side as of early 2019. The Danish authorities underlined their commitment to implement ERTMS network-wide by 2030. The Commission representative expressed concerns as to the respect of the objectives laid down in the ERTMS Development Plan. Furthermore, the issue of providing OBUs at affordable price was also discussed.

Task force ERTMS RFC RALP, Berlin, 3 July 2018

Mr Vinck learned about the progress in the preparation of the RFC Rhine Alpine Implementation Plan and the latest state of play as regards the implementation of ERTMS both trackside and on-board in the respective Member States. Furthermore, it was also an opportunity to give preliminary replies to some of the questions raised in the letter sent to Mr Vinck prior to the meeting that regarded among others the issue of vehicle authorization, security, DMI language and operational rules.

High-level meeting with representatives of the German Transport Ministry and Deutsche Bahn, Bonn, 2 July 2018

Mr Vinck met Mr Gratza from BMVI and Mr Sennhenn from DB Netz to discuss among others the state of play of the ERTMS implementation on the German territory and in particular in the RALP Corridor, ERTMS feasibility study of BMVI, DB strategy for digitalisation of the railways and the German position on GSM-R frequencies/bandwidth. The German authorities emphasised their clear commitment to the network deployment of ERTMS stressing in particular the expected savings to be achieved. Furthermore, they indicated that the shortage of human resources with appropriate technical skills is one of the main driving forces for this decision.

Meeting with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, ProRail, NS, The Hague, 27 June 2018

Mr. Vinck presented the EU-perspective on ERTMS deployment, including the 4th Railway Package, European Deployment Plan, the business case on ERTMS, current and future funding commitments, importance of RALP and implications of the Dutch decisions regarding the implementation of the national deployment plan on the European level. The Dutch authorities emphasised the need for thorough training and testing in order to guarantee a smooth migration to ERTMS, shared experience with shunting under ERTMS and updated on the CEF co-financed Baseline 3 upgrade project of the rolling stock operating on the Dutch network. In this context the need of simple and interoperable OBU was also discussed. The Dutch ministry stressed its commitment to deploy ERTMS and to focus in first place on the Dutch section of the RALP corridor. In the second half of 2018 the Commission will organise a meeting with the Infrastructure Managers and Transport Ministries of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands to follow up the issue of the corridor deployment.

UNIFE General Assembly, Warsaw, 21 June 2018

On the eve of the UNIFE General Assembly Mr Vinck met UNISIG Steering Committee members. In this framework several ERTMS related issues were discussed, including the need to train infrastructure managers and railway undertakings, scarcity of experienced engineers, possible shift in business model from selling commodity to providing services and need to preserve stability of the system without excluding an option to add new functionalities at a later stage. Stakeholders stressed that ERTMS proved its merits in greenfield projects but migration to the new system in case of existing infrastructure or retrofitting constitutes a challenge. In the UNIFE General Assembly Mr Vinck gave a presentation in which he outlined the progress in the implementation of the Action Plan and urged all stakeholders to stick to their commitments.

High-level conference on “EU support for developing rail transport in Croatia: current opportunities and future perspectives” co-organised by Mr Davor Skrlec, Member of the European Parliament and UNIFE in cooperation with the Croatian Parliament, Zagreb, 5 June 2018

Mr Vinck gave a presentation in which he expressed a view that the future of the European railways depends on the timely deployment of ERTM. Furthermore, he underlined that a firm commitment of all stakeholders is needed to make ERTMS a reliable standard system. Mr Vinck indicated that Rail Freight Corridors with their integrated corridor governance structure bringing together all stakeholders should provide a real time feedback on the ERTMS deployment progress. Finally, Mr Vinck reminded about the 2018 ERTMS CEF call, available budget and the deadlines for submission of applications.

Meeting of Coordinators Peijs, Vinck and Grosch with Deutsche Bahn Management Berlin, 7 December 2017

The meeting was attended by: MM Pofalla, Sennhenn, Miram, Sellnick and Bührsch from Deutsche Bahn, and by Mr Colson, Ms J. Bertrand and Mr Vankerckhoven from DG MOVE B1.

This meeting was organised at the joint initiative of Mr Pofalla (DB) and Coordinator Grosch and had as objective to review the current state of play of TEN-T railways implementation in Germany
Mr Pofalla explained that the HSL Berlin – Munchen, the biggest investment in railway infrastructure ever made in Germany, would be inaugurated on the 8th December 2017. 10 billion EUR were invested to bring the train journey to 4 hours between the two cities. The aim is to have a modal split increasing from 20% to 40% over the upcoming years.
Mr Pofalla confirmed that 2/3rd of the DB infrastructure investments in Germany are on the TEN-T alignments.
CEF is considered as an excellent tool and benefits to the modal shift. 'A Lobby' meeting for CEF between DB and Commissioner Oettinger took place.

The TEN-T Coordinators raised the following questions of a more technical nature:
1. Connection of the BBT with Munich and operational harmonisation aspects.
2. Rastatt accident and mitigation measures for the future.
3. Setting-up of a working group to analyse potential multi modal solutions to face future accessibility problems of railway section.
4. The upcoming process of the next MFF and CEF2 and the link with an efficient railway network all over the EU have been explained. There is a clear need on return on investments for the citizens. The new role of ERA as from 2019 has been discussed and the ways helping the railway sector to become more efficient.
5. Dresden – Prague: The next step - signature of a financial agreement with the German Federal Ministry - start the preparation end of 2018 for the planning phase. Federal funding needs to be secured.
6. Construction of Erdinger Ringschluß (Railway connection between Munich main station and Munich airport) are ongoing, finalisation could be envisaged around 2026.
7. ERTMS: a financial scheme for the OBU equipment is needed and the problem of additional frequencies of 3MHz for railways has to be solved all around the EU.
8. The issue of the extension of the TEN-T corridors in the framework of the TEN-T Core Network has been raised. Comments and proposals are welcome by mid-January 2018.

Meeting with Ronald Pofalla, Berlin, 7 December 2017

Ronald Pofalla, Member of Deutsche Bahn Management Board for Infrastructure, received three Coordinators for a discussion about the recent developments on German railways: Mr Vinck, Ms Peijs and Mr Grosch. Mr Vinck used the opportunity to discuss with Mr Pofalla and other representatives of Deutsch Bahn the recently published ERTMS Deployment Action Plan.

4th Rail Freight Day, Vienna, 7 December 2017

Mr Vinck has been invited to the Rail Freight day in Vienna where he made a passionate key note speech on interoperability, and potential and responsibility of the Rail Freight Corridors to reach interoperability. Mr Vinck had the opportunity to have bilateral discussions with representative of the rail freight sector.

Meeting with Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO of Alstom, Paris, 28 November 2017

Mr Vinck had a meeting with Alstom CEO Mr Poupart-Lafarge together with Josef Doppelbauer, Director of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA). Standardised on-board unit and retrofitting of locomotives were discussed. Furthermore it had been agreed that ERA and the supply industry sets up a working group with the objective to agree on the methodology to standardisation and retrofitting.

15th Florence Rail Forum, Florence, 24 November 2017

On 24 November 2017 Mr Vinck made a key note speech about the use of Business Case in railway programmes in the 15th Florence Rail Forum. He was actively participating in the subsequent sessions and discussing with representatives of the railway sector about financing possibilities in railway.

ERA ERTMS Conference, Valenciennes, 15-16 November 2017

On 15 November 2017 the bi-annual Board ERTMS Platform meeting took place in the margin of the yearly ERMS Conference, organised by ERA. High-level representatives of the railway sector were discussing the recently published ERTMS - The Way Ahead, Commission Staff Working Document. A working dinner directly after this meeting gave the opportunity to continue this discussion. On 16 November 2017 Mr Vinck participated in the yearly ERA ERTMS Conference and made a passionate key note speech about the short-term challenges of the railway sector to be tackled, in order to reach the objectives of the Commission Staff Working Document (Action Plan for ERTMS).

TEN-T Coordinators' seminar, Strasbourg, 14 November 2017

On 14 November Mr Vinck attended the TEN-T Coordinators Seminar organised in Strasbourg. This seminar was the bi-annual opportunity to exchange views with DG MOVE management and the other Coordinators on different topics linked to the future development of the TEN-T corridors and their financing. Among others the issue on "Rail breakthroughs" on Core Network Corridors has been discussed and agreed by the Coordinators. The seminar was followed by an open discussion meeting with Commissioner Bulc on the short and medium term objectives of the actions to implement the TEN-T networks.

High-level meeting with representatives of the German Transport Ministry and Deutsche Bahn, Bonn, 26 October 2017

Mr Vinck had a discussion with State Secretary Odenwald, Ms Horn from BMVI, Mr Sennhenn from Deutsch Bahn Netz Ag. about how the Action Plan for ERTMS can accelerate the deployment.

Discussion with Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO of Alstom, Paris, 29 September 2017

Mr Vinck had a constructive meeting with Mr Poupart-Lafarge, CEO of Alstom and discussed with him among others: the industrial strategy for ERTMS, in particular for standardised ETCS on-board unit, new financing possibility for ETCS on-board purchase, details of the Action Plan and cooperation between European Commission, ERA and the ETCS supply industry.

High-level meeting with representatives of the German Transport Ministry and Deutsche Bahn, Bonn, 11 September 2017

Mr Vinck met with Ms Horn from BMVI and Mr Sennhenn from Deutsche Bahn Netz Ag. to discuss among others the state of play of the cross-border ERTMS implementation on German territory and the status of deployment on Rhine-Alpine Core Network Corridor and German position on GSM-R frequencies/bandwidth issues. Furthermore, Germany made detailed comments on the current version of the Action Plan for ERTMS deployment.

Meeting with Siemens CEO-Discussion with Dr Jochen Eickholt, Munich, 23 July 2017

Mr Vinck had a constructive meeting with Dr Eickholt, CEO of Siemens and discussed with him among others: the industrial strategy for ERTMS, in particular for standardised ETCS on-board unit, new financing possibility for ETCS on-board purchase, details of the Action Plan and cooperation between European Commission, ERA and the ETCS supply industry.

Visit at European Union Agency for Railways and Policy Board for ERTMS, Valenciennes, 10 July 2017

Mr Vinck, together with the members of the Policy Board for ERTMS, visited the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) in Valenciennes. This visit at ERA was a great opportunity to learn better the colleagues working in the area ERTMS and their specific responsibilities. In this way, the Policy Board meeting could also devote more time to technical issues.

Participation in UNIFE General Assembly, Barcelona, 22 June 2017

Mr Vinck took part in a round table discussion about Rail and EU Transport Policy, more specifically about interoperability, ERTMS, decarbonisation, digitalisation. He emphasised that the European ETCS industry needs to deliver, if it wants to keep its worldwide leading role. Over 200 European rail industry leaders were listening to his intervention.

Side event of and ministerial dinner in margin of International Transport Forum, Leipzig, 31 May 2017

Mr Vinck took part in the ministerial meeting on the development of the rail freight on the Rhine-Alpine Rail Freight Corridor (RALP RFC). The meeting was organized by the Swiss and German ministers as a side event to the International Transport Forum in Leipzig. Mr Vinck addressed the necessity to strive for interoperable and compatible ERTMS deployment everywhere in Europe and the exemplary function of RALP RFC to reach it along the entire corridor as first in Europe. In the ministerial dinner Mr Vinck had the opportunity to talk among others with the German, Swiss and Czech Ministers of Transport.

High-level Bilateral discussion between representatives of the French Ministry of transport and Karel Vinck, European ERTMS Coordinator, Paris, 10 April 2017

Mr Vinck had the opportunity to explain to Ms Bouchet from the French Ministry of Transport the intention of the Commission to adopt an action plan on ERTMS deployment. The draft content of this plan was presented briefly as well and France had the opportunity to react to this plan. Mr Vinck also proposed a trilateral meeting with Germany and the Commission in Brussels, to further discuss the actions defined in this plan. This proposal was positively received by France.

Meetings with high-level representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Deutsche Bahn, Bonn, 14 March 2017

Mr Vinck had the opportunity to explain to Ms Horn from BMVI and Mr Sennhenn from Deutsche Bahn the intention of the Commission to adopt an action plan on ERTMS deployment. The draft content of this plan was presented briefly as well and Germany had the opportunity to react to this plan. Mr Vinck also proposed a trilateral meeting with France and the Commission in Brussels, to further discuss the actions defined in this plan. This proposal was positively received by Germany.

Meetings with Mr Balko, Member of the Court of Auditors, Luxembourg, 2 March 2017

Mr Vinck asked for a meeting with Mr Balko, Member of the Court of Auditors, responsible for the performance audit report on ERTMS. This meeting gave the opportunity to have an open and very constructive discussion about the preliminary findings of the performance audit report. Mr Vinck also used the opportunity to give further information about ERTMS that contributed to common understanding of facts.

Meetings with Mr Nicolas Jachiet, President of Fer de France, Paris, 1 March 2017

The discussion with Mr Jachiet provided the opportunity to exchange views on the ERTMS European Deployment Plan and the Breakthrough Programme for ERTMS. Mr Jachiet confirmed that he has similar views on the approach to accelerate ERTMS deployment in order to optimise interoperability and agreed which steps need to be taken to reach this goal.

Seminar between the European Investment Bank, the European Commission and the European Coordinators (Boosting investments in TEN-T), Luxembourg, 18 January 2017

Mr Vinck attended the seminar between the EIB and DG MOVE together with his coordinator colleagues. The main exchanges concerned the new "Funding and Blending" approach including the upcoming call and investments perspectives. This meeting was followed by specific ERTMS related meeting with the team of the EIB and INEA in order to exchange notes about investment projects that may be considered for financial blending.

Rail Freight Day, Vienna, 8 December 2016

The rail Freight Day in 2016 was jointly organised by the European Commission and RailNetEurope. In his intervention Mr Vinck underlined that Users' first principle should be respected and followed in every decision that is taken at different level. ERA and the industry should be in the position to identify the technical conditions for the definition of a standardised on-board equipment that is running everywhere in Europe. Interoperable and compliant infrastructure is the prerequisite for a standardised on-board unit. The industry must also deliver: the operators need a competitive cost structure and timely delivery of products.

Meeting with high-level representatives of German Ministry of Transport and Deutsche Bahn, and meeting with Dr Grube, CEO of Deutsche Bahn, Berlin, 22 November 2016

One of regular high-level meetings with Ms Horn from BMVI and Mr Sennhenn from Deutsche Bahn took place in Berlin on 22 November 2016. This was the last discussion about the planned adoption of the reviewed EDP and gave the opportunity to talk about Germany's comments made on the proposed legal text. Furthermore, Mr Vinck had a constructive discussion with Dr Grube, CEO of Deutsch Bahn about the role of the infrastructure managers and the supply industry in ERTMS deployment in Europe.

Conference 'ERTMS in the Nordic countries', Stockholm, 25 October 2016

Mr Vinck has been invited to the conference ERTMS in the Nordic countries on 25 October 2016 to discuss with representatives of infrastructure managers and operators ERTMS plans and experiences in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. In his key-note speech he gave information about the cornerstones and the follow-up procedure of the new ERTMS European Deployment Plan that is planned to be adopted by the end of this year. He also highlighted the need of a business case for ERTMS carried out on core network corridors. It is needed, since final decision is always taken by the Ministries of Finance on the basis of a business case. It helps to define the timing of investments and identify what changes the railway sector in its approach has to introduce.

Participation in a roundtable discussion at the Dutch Parliament, Den Haag, 28 September 2016

Mr Vinck has been invited to the Dutch Parliament to discuss ERTMS deployment in the Netherlands and in Europe. Mr Vinck used the opportunity to explain to the members the importance of ERTMS, as part of interoperability together with removal of infrastructure bottlenecks and harmonisation of operational rules. He confirmed that all building blocks are in place in order to accelerate ERTMS deployment: stable specifications of ERTMS system are available, 4th Railway Package is giving the System Authority to European Union Railway Agency as from 2019, and the new European Deployment Plan will be soon adopted. He also confirmed that positive business cases have been carried out for ERTMS deployment on all Core Network Corridors.

Visit and meetings during Innotrans, Berlin, 22 September 2016

On 22 September 2016 Mr Vinck visited InnoTrans, the leading international trade fair for transport technology, taking the opportunity to meet with stakeholders and participate in meetings on ERTMS. A fruitful discussion took place with high-level representatives of Ansaldo STS about the next steps of the Breakthrough Program. Mr Vinck had the opportunity to discuss with Mr Citroën, Director General of UNIFE, the role of the European Rail Industry in the implementation of the Breakthrough Program and in particular of the implementation of the new European Deployment Plan. Furthermore he participated in the Platform of Railway Agencies - Future Train Control and Command systems to discuss the role of railway agencies in the world, and in the preparatory meeting for the next ERTMS stakeholders' platform that is entitled to take decisions at high-level on technical related issues.

Meeting with representatives of the German Ministry of Transport and Deutsche Bahn, Bonn, 21 April 2016

Mr Vinck had a discussion with high-level representatives of the German Transport Ministry and Deutsche Bahn on 21 April 2016. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the priorities for the period 2020 to 2030. On the basis of a thorough analysis conducted by DB, it was established that Germany will be able to prioritise the continuation of the already committed cross-border sections, to be equipped by 2020 to 2022, and the link between the two hubs in Europe: BeNeLux and Vienna. The next high-level meeting is planned for the Innotrans in Berlin, September 2016.

Trilateral meeting with representatives of the Austrian Ministry of Transport and ÖBB, Vienna, 17 March 2016

Mr Vinck had an open and constructive discussion with high-level representatives of the Austrian Ministry of Transport and ÖBB. Mr Vinck had the opportunity to report about the meetings he had in Austria’s neighbouring countries and about their plans for ERTMS deployment. ÖBB gave some examples of difficulties experienced during the process of ERTMS implementation, highlighting that harmonisation of operational rules would lead to significant cost and time savings. It was agreed that Rail Freight Corridors could play an eminent role in achieving this objective.

Trilateral meeting with representatives of the British Ministry of Transport and Network Rail, London, 24 February 2016

Mr Vinck had an open and constructive discussion with representatives of the Department for Transport and Rail Network. Mr Doppelbauer, Executive Director of the European Railway Agency took part as well in the meeting. This meeting provided the opportunity to talk about technical questions and solutions and about the necessary steps to be done for the drafting of the new ERTMS deployment plan. In order to thoroughly analyse the possibility of using innovative financing instruments in UK for ERTMS, dedicated bilateral discussions are planned.

Trilateral meeting at the French Ministry with participation of SNCF Reseau, 1 February 2016

On 1 February 2016 Mr Vinck had a high-level trilateral meeting at the French Ministry with participation of SNCF Reseau. In the discussion France confirmed that the branch between Luxembourg and Basel of the North Sea – Mediterranean Core Network Corridor together with some high-speed lines of other Core network Corridors will be equipped by 2020 at the latest. France also announced that the feasibility study on ERTMS equipment of the French Core network delivered results that the equipment of some lines outside the corridors would have a positive business case.

Meeting with ALSTOM, 1 February 2016

Mr Vinck met Mr Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO of Alstom to discuss current technical and product delivery issues. Mr Poupart-Lafarge highlighted that stabilisation of the specification is crucial for high-quality products and urged the role of ERA as system authority that will significantly contribute to this aim.

Trilateral meeting with representatives of the Czech Ministry of Transport and Czech Infrastructure Manager (SZDC), 26 January 2016

Mr Vinck had a constructive meeting with representatives of the Czech Ministry of Transport and the Czech Infrastructure Manager (SZDC) on 26 January 2016. Czech Republic presented its ambitious ERTMS implementation plan and confirmed its commitment to equip almost all Core Network Corridor sections in its territory by 2020. Some of the cross-border cooperations are ongoing and well working, some need to be established. Czech Republic is planning to equip more than 800 locomotives by 2020 as well.

Trilateral meeting with the Hungarian Transport Ministry and Infrastructure Managers, 6 January 2016

Mr Vinck had his first trilateral meeting with representatives of the Hungarian Transport Ministry and Infrastructure Managers. Mr Becsey, Under-States Secretary of the Transport Ministry received the ERTMS Coordinator and discussed with him the following issues: Hungary's ERTMS deployment for infrastructure and for locos in the current programming period and in the period 2020-2030, cooperation with neighbouring countries at cross-border sections, and planned participation in the upcoming CEF Call. Hungary gave us their first experiences with the products delivered by the European suppliers. The Hungarian Transport Ministry and the infrastructure managers welcomed the technical support provided by the ERTMS Deployment Management Team that will make use of it.

Meeting with high-level representatives of the German Ministry of Transport and Deutsch Bahn Netz Ag, 7 December 2015

On 7 December 2015 Mr Vinck had a fruitful and open discussion with high-level representatives of the German Ministry of Transport and Deutsch Bahn Netz Ag. Ms Horn and Mr Sennhenn confirmed again the technical and financial feasibility to deploy the Rhine-Alpine Core Network Corridor by 2022 at the latest and informed Mr Vinck that the agreement on the additional seven cross-border projects is closed to finalisation. Mr Vinck explained the next steps to be taken on the way towards a new EDP. Germany presented the methodology of their analysis to be carried out for the sections along the Core Network Corridors, to be equipped between 2020-2030. Next high-level meeting is planned for March 2016.

Trilateral meeting, Madrid, 5 October 2015

On 5 October 2015 Mr Vinck had a useful and informative trilateral meeting in Madrid to discuss the Breakthrough Program and implementation plan in Spain. Spain confirmed that in the first period (2015-2020) ERTMS implementation will focus on the deployment of high-speed lines; the conventional and mixed lines will be deployed mostly beyond 2020. Beside the Mr Manuel Niño González, Secretary General of Infrastructures, also representatives of ADIF, RENFE and the Spanish national safety authority participated in the meeting and reported about the current problems with the quality of delivered ERTMS products. Mr Vinck announced to take contact with the European suppliers to discuss those issues.

High-level meeting with representatives of UK, 14 July 2015

On 14 July 2015 Mr Vinck met with high-level representatives of Department for Transport and of the Network Rail in London. The objective of this trilateral, high-level meeting was to discuss the objectives of the Breakthrough Program, in particular ERTMS deployment in UK. UK informed Mr Vinck that the national deployment plan of UK is being reviewed currently in order to accelerate ERTMS implementation on its network. Representatives of the Ministry and the railway infrastructure explained that this national plan is based on a cost benefit analysis and ERTMS implementation will be executed according to this planning. UK will implement the North Sea – Mediterranean Core Network Corridor on its territory beyond 2020.The meeting agreed that this trilateral discussion will continue in the future, next meeting shall take place in January 2016.

UNIFE General Assembly, Bucharest, 18 June 2015

Mr Vinck - together with Mr Olivier Onidi, Director of European mobility network Directorate of DG MOVE and Mr Doppelbauer, Executive Director of the European Railway Agency - have been invited by the Presiding Board of UNIFE to a working lunch at the margin of the General Assembly in Bucharest. During an open and constructive discussion, Mr Bertling, President of the UNIFE Presiding Board, thanked for the efforts of the European ERTMS Coordinator and his Breakthrough Program, and for the efforts of ERA and the European Commission for delivering stability, deployment objectives and tools. Presiding Board confirmed its commitment to provide their contribution in terms of discipline and cost reduction. Furthermore, in the meeting it was discussed how the objective of standardised on-board equipment could be reached.
After this working lunch meeting, Mr Vinck explained the participants of the assembly in a round table discussion what has been achieved so far and what are the next steps to be done to implement the Breakthrough Program by 2016.

High-level meeting with representatives of Poland, 9 June 2015

On 9 June 2015 Mr Vinck met with Slawomir Zalobka (Under State Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure) and Mr Maciej Kaczorek (Director of Strategic Planning Department) in Warszawa. The objective of this trilateral, high-level meeting was to discuss the objectives of the Breakthrough Program, in particular ERTMS deployment in Poland in the period 2015-2020. Topics like cooperation between Rail Freight Corridors and Core Network Corridors, and 4th Railway Package were partially addressed during the meeting as well. In the meeting it was agreed that this trilateral discussion will continue in the future.

High-level meeting with representatives of France, Paris, 3 June 2015

On 3 June 2015 Mr Vinck met with Christophe Saintillan, Director of Rail Directorate at the Ministry of Transport and Romain Dubois, Director - Network Access at SNCF Réseau in Paris. The objective of this trilateral, high-level meeting was to discuss with France its overall planning of ERTMS deployment along the Core Network Corridor - before 2020 and between 20210 and 2030. Specific attention was paid the implementation of the North Sea-Mediterranean Corridor. The participants agreed that a reliable business case for ERTMS is the condition of investments made for the European Train Control System.

High-level meeting with representatives of Germany, Frankfurt, 5 May 2015

On 5 May 2015 Mr Vinck met with Ms Horn (Director of Land transport of BMVI) and Mr Sennhenn (CEO Deutsche Bahn Netz Ag.) in Frankfurt. The objective of this trilateral, high-level meeting was to identify as precise as possible the sections in Germany that can be implemented between 2015-2020. Furthermore, Mr Vinck reported about the current financing opportunities for ERTMS at EU level and asked for information about the financing opportunities in Germany. He also explained the planned procedure and time frame of the EDP review. The meeting concluded that this trilateral discussion will continue in the future.

Working breakfast at the Representation of Land Hamburg, Berlin, 22 April 2015

After welcoming words of Coordinator Bodewig, Mr Vinck made a presentation about strategic positioning and competitiveness of rail in Europe and how TEN-T Guidelines and Connecting Europe Facility can contribute to increase its competitiveness. Furthermore, he explained the principles and objectives of his Breakthrough program. In particular this last item generated a constructive discussion between Mr Vinck and the audience. Among the guests were also some members of Bundestag's Transport Committee.

Meetings and Alpine Conference in Innsbruck, 18 to 20 March 2015

The European Coordinators had the opportunity to discuss the reactions of some Member States on the submitted Work Plans. They also agreed on the necessary steps to be taken in the upcoming weeks to send out the final version of the Work Plans. ERTMS and the breakthrough program played an eminent role during the discussion. It has been agreed that the Coordinators responsible for horizontal objectives (ERTMS and Motorways of the Sea) will continue contributing with their separate Work Plans to the completion of the Trans-European Transport Network, maintaining a strong coherence between their Work Plans and the ones for Core Network Corridors.
With this occasion, Mr Vinck had the opportunity to discuss bilaterally with representatives of cross-border projects in order to tackle specific difficulties and solutions for ERTMS equipment at cross-border sections. He also participated actively in the round table discussions about procurement and legal issues, communication, project structures etc. He also discussed ERTMS related questions with high-level representatives of participating Member States, like France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria etc. A fruitful discussion between Commissioner Bulc and the European Coordinators closed this interesting three-day-event.

Meeting with high-level representatives of the French Ministry of Transport, Paris, 9 and 10 March 2015

Mr Vidalies invited the Coordinators responsible for corridors crossing through France and horizontal projects. He thanked the Coordinators for their efforts and the work plans submitted in December 2014. He also gave an overview about the main priorities of his country and the ambitious projects to be implemented along the corridors. He confirmed that France submitted a big number of proposals for co-funding under CEF.
Mr Vinck had the opportunity to explain the Breakthrough program and its objectives. He highlighted the need of a standardised on-board equipment that is able to run everywhere in Europe. Mr Vinck explained the review process of the European Deployment Plan as well. Mr Vidalies stated that ERTMS is one of the main priorities and detailed comments about the Work Plan will be sent to Mr Vinck. He also confirmed that the Luxembourg – Basel line will be operational by 2018.

Meetings with representatives of the Finnish Transport Ministry and Transport Agency, 3 and 4 March 2015, Helsinki

On 3-4 March 2015 Mr Vinck met high-level representatives of the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications to discuss ERTMS related issues. Mr Vinck explained the objectives of his Breakthrough Program that is supposed to create the conditions for realising full interoperability in Europe. He referred to the core elements of the program: definition of standard on-board equipment, stable and mature specifications and review of the European Deployment Plan. Ms Minna Kivimäki, Director General of the Ministry, agreed with Mr Vinck in the objectives of the Breakthrough program. Furthermore, the representatives of the Ministry and the Transport Agency have been informed about the financing possibilities of CEF, including innovative financing instruments of EFSI. In general terms, Finland proposed the Commission to have more brainstorming meetings with the Member States, similarly to the Meeting of Director-Generals for Transport Policy on EU transport policies for the next years on 27 February 2015.

Meeting with Dr Grube, CEO Deutsche Bahn AG, 3 September 2014

On 3rd September 2014, the European Coordinators who are leading the corridors crossing Germany had the opportunity to jointly meet the CEO of Deutsche Bahn to discuss the EU core network policy. Participants:

Deutsche Bahn: Dr Grube, Fried, Miram, Sellnick, Lueberrink
European Coordinators: Ana Palacio, Pat Cox, Mathieu Grosch, Carlo Secchi, Karel Vinck

All participants confirmed the importance of this joint meeting. Mr Grube invited the Coordinators to a follow-up meeting with the DB Board before the end of this year. The following issues were raised by the Coordinators: Germany should make the use of CEF budget more attractive for rail infrastructure managers; lack of private investment; standardisation of equipment to be imposed on suppliers; external dimension TEN-T; need for accompanying measures; financial support for noise protection measures; the need to move from a conversation on design to a conversation on implementation.
Dr Grube stated that in the beginning DB was quite reluctant towards TEN-T. However, this attitude has changed completely. TEN-T offers a chance for leadership to develop a real transport network. DB is an international operator. In this context core network corridors are of the highest priority and instrumental for achieving such international market. Mr Grube also said that he appreciates the open and constructive dialogue.

Hearing at the NL Parliament and meeting with Ms Mansveld, NL State Secretary of Transport, Den Haag, 15 May 2014

Mr Vinck has been invited to the hearing on ERTMS at the Dutch Parliament on 15 May 2014. The purpose of this hearing was to give an overview to the Parliament Members about the recently submitted national (Dutch) ERTMS deployment plan. Mr Vinck welcomed the Dutch Deployment Plan that explains the implementation process in The Netherlands in a logical way and in detail. Mr Vinck informed the Members of the Dutch Parliament about ERTMS in European context, about its importance and added value at national and European level. Mr Vinck was accompanied by Mr Verslype, Executive Director of the European Railway Agency. In the framework of this hearing Mr Vinck and Mr Verslype had the occasion to have a bilateral discussion with Ms Mansveld, State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment of the Netherlands.

EU Railway Conference, 7 May 2014, Lille

Mr Vinck has been invited by the European Railway Agency to the EU Railway Conference where he made a keynote speech on ERTMS. In his speech he highlighted the need to focus on limited number of priorities and actions in the upcoming 2 years. He also underlined the importance to follow the "users first" principle, where he identified the Railway Undertakings as the most important users: they must be able to offer a service which meets the requirements of the customers who are only interested in rail as far as it is a competitive transport mode in the broad sense.

Inauguration event of Rail Freight Corridors Rhine-Alpine and North Sea–Mediterranean, 20 March 2014, Ghent

Mr Vinck participated together with his Coordinator colleagues, Ms Ana Palacio and Mr Péter Balázs, in the Inauguration event of Rail Freight Corridors Rhine-Alpine and North Sea – Mediterranean that has been attended by high-level Infrastructure Managers and Railway undertakings. All three Coordinators were invited to make a short statement in the beginning of the conference and they replied to questions of the audience later on. Mr Vinck thanked the Management and Executive Boards of both Rail Freight Corridors for their excellent work and congratulated them with the good results achieved. He also passed a clear message that both corridors should be equipped with ERTMS by 2018, in order to contribute to the realisation of interoperable and efficient railway network in Europe.
In the framework of the event Mr Vinck and his Coordinator colleagues had the opportunity to have bilateral discussions with, among others, Ms Mansveld, State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment of The Netherlands and Mr Wathelet, State Secretary for Environment, Energy and Mobility of Belgium. In these meetings ERTMS and Rail Freight Corridor related issues were discussed.

Meeting with Dr. Kefer, Member of Deutsche Bahn Management Board responsible for Services and Infrastructure, 12 March 2014, Berlin

Mr Vinck met Dr Kefer and Mr Sennhenn (Chairman of the Management Board) in Berlin on 12 March to discuss the state of play of ERTMS implementation in Germany. Mr Vinck underlined that the Commission's first priority is Baseline 3, so that the track side and loco equipment can start as soon as possible. In the next years the Commission will focus on the most significant cross-border sections in the EU with the involvement of Member States, Infrastructure Managers and National Safety Authorities. Mr Vinck highlighted that it would be essential that the Rhine-Alpine Corridor is operational by 2018.

Visit and meetings during Innotrans, 22 September 2016, Berlin

Meeting with representatives of the German Ministry of Transport and Deutsche Bahn, 21 April 2016, Bonn

Trilateral meeting with representatives of the Austrian Ministry of Transport and ÖBB, 17 March 2016, Vienna

Trilateral meeting with representatives of the British Ministry of Transport and Network Rail, 24 February 2016, London

Trilateral meeting at the French Ministry with participation of SNCF Reseau, 1 February 2016

Meeting with ALSTOM, 1 February 2016

Trilateral meeting with representatives of the Czech Ministry of Transport and Czech Infrastructure Manager (SZDC), 26 January 2016

Trilateral meeting with the Hungarian Transport Ministry and Infrastructure Managers, 6 January 2016

Meeting with high-level representatives of the German Ministry of Transport and Deutsch Bahn Netz Ag, 7 December 2015

Trilateral meeting, 5 October 2015, Madrid