ERTMS & Digital Signalling 2025  |  7 October 2025 – Arup, London

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Registration and refreshments
08:45  to  09:30
Chair’s welcome and opening remarks
09:30  to  09:40
Speaker:
Robin Groth. Railway Engineer. formerly Senior Civil Servant at the Department for Transport.
Support for the delivery of ERTMS and Digital Railway – Government sponsorship
09:40  to  10:05
  • Plans and timelines – which routes are next?
  • Funding for ERTMS
  • What does introduction of GBRTT mean for the digital railway programme?
Speaker:
Jennifer Elevique. Deputy Director Rail Environment & Digital. Department for Transport.
Delivering the East Coast Digital Programme
10:05  to  10:30
  • Progress and achievements to date
  • Preparing for digital migration on ECML
  • Fleet fitment and business readiness
Speaker:
Sarah Jane Crawford. Industry Partnership Director - East Coast Digital Programme. Network Rail.
Panel discussion: Preparing for the wider use of ERTMS – is the sector ready and how to accelerate deployment?
10:30  to  11:15
  • Preparing for wider ERTMS operations – what is needed now?
  • Is the sector ready for signals away on the East Coast Mainline?
  • How to communicate change throughout the business so everyone is prepared
  • The importance of the ERTMS test centre
Speakers:
Sarah Jane Crawford. Industry Partnership Director - East Coast Digital Programme. Network Rail.
Raj Patel. Head of ERTMS. Govia Thameslink Railway.
Simon Eastmond. Associate Director. Arup.
Chris Hardy. Systems Engineering Manager. Siemens Mobility.
Morning refreshments
11:15  to  11:45
Operators perspective - managing the implementation and operations of ERTMS
11:45  to  12:10
  • Key milestones and challenges faced
  • Advice to operators and learnings so far
Speaker:
Ross Beetlestone. ERTMS Integration and Testing Specialist. Govia Thameslink Railway.
Freight and ERTMS – progress with preparing for ERTMS and next steps
12:10  to  12:35
  • Managing fitment on different sorts of vehicles and with multiple operators
  • Challenges and opportunities for freight
  • Progress with retro fit
Speaker:
Aleksander Binder. Head of ERTMS Programme. Freightliner.
Case study: Using ETCS to improve system efficiency and safety
12:35  to  13:00
  • Reasons for upgrade and identifying ETCS as the solution 
  • Designing Future Signalling and Train Control System Architecture  
  • Contracting and deployment strategy 
  • Challenges faced and how these were overcome 
Speaker:
Tom Godfrey. Director. Arup.
Networking lunch
13:00  to  14:00
Making a success of the Digital Railway – a goal structured approach
14:00  to  14:30
  • Industry wide measures that can be used 
Speaker:
Steve Denniss. Technical Director. WSP.
Establishing safety and standards for ERTMS
14:30  to  15:00
  • Standardising requirements and specifications
  • Facilitating approvals and authorisations
  • What are the software risks?
Speaker:
Darren Jowett. Head of System Authority. Network Rail.
Afternoon refreshments
15:00  to  15:30
Preparing for the replacement of GSM-R - The future of radio communications and successfully introducing FRMCS
15:30  to  15:55
  • The imperative for change - Why we shall start to cope with it now?
  • The successor, FRMCS : Vision & technology
  • The interfaces between ETCS and FRMCS 
  • Managing the transition (From international use cases)
  • Development of a GB strategy and roadmap for transitioning to the FRMCS 
Speaker:
Amine Triki. Project Director. Systra.
Cyber security – what are the risks with ERTMS and how can these be mitigated?
15:55  to  16:20
  • Challenges of using ERTMS
  • Solutions to the risks
  • Comparison of the security of ERTMS and I-ETMS 
Speaker:
Tom Chothia. Professor in Cyber Security. University of Birmingham.
Skills and training needed – establishing a consistent approach for ERTMS
16:20  to  16:45
  • Is there a centralised approach for skills for a digital railway?
  • Preparing now for the skills that will be needed going forward
Speaker:
Neil Franklin. Workforce Planning Advisor. NSAR.
Chair’s closing remarks
16:45  to  16:55
Close of conference and networking refreshments
16:55  to  18:00

*All sessions include time for Q & A* 

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