Erkner – Seddin

The dates shown are legally non-binding forecasts based on the current status. The forecasts are in no way intended to establish any kind of legal claim whatsoever that completion will take place by the specified date and that use will be possible. For these reasons, the information should also not be used to make or prepare business decisions, for example, but not conclusively, with regard to the vehicle equipment or the compatibility between the vehicles and the infrastructure. If you have any questions, particularly regarding technical network access or obtaining binding information, please contact your customer advisor.

Most of the infrastructure projects are still in the planning phase, which means that the information provided on these pages reflects the current planning status and is updated regularly.

With the European Train Control System (ETCS), the EU member states have agreed on a standardised technology for establishing cross-border compatibility of routes and vehicles. ETCS enables interoperability in European rail freight traffic across national borders. This also applies to the German-Polish border, where trains should be able to run in ETCS operation from the Polish border to Seddin.

Seddin is home to one of DB InfraGO AG's most important marshalling yards, which is also one of DB Cargo AG's nine major train formation yards in Germany. All single wagonload traffic for the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Berlin and Brandenburg is handled here. Important freight transport corridors lead from Seddin to major German marshalling yards in Maschen, Seelze or Leipzig and to the Czech Republic and Poland.

In order to achieve the desired seamless ETCS equipment, the equipment area of the Border crossing Poland – Frankfurt/Oder – Erkner project will be extended from Erkner to Seddin. This section of the route runs via the southern Berlin outer ring and is therefore part of one of the most important axes for European transit traffic. The corridors of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T corridors) North Sea – Baltic, Scandinavian – Mediterranean and Rhine – Danube, which connect northern Europe with south-eastern Europe, run via the Berlin outer ring. As part of the TEN corridors, the project is part of the European Deployment Plan (EDP: EU deployment plan for Europe-wide coordinated ETCS equipment along the TEN network) and is a project of Digitale Schiene Deutschland. In conjunction with the parallel project Berlin outer ring gap closure, ETCS operation will be made possible on the entire outer ring.

Vehicles without ETCS equipment should still be able to travel on the line. ETCS Level 2 with signals will therefore be installed, while the Germain Train Control System called "Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung" (PZB) will remain in operation. Before the ETCS equipment is installed, the interlockings must be modified so that they meet the technical requirements for ETCS equipment. Only electronic interlockings (Elektronische Stellwerke: ESTW) and digital interlockings (Digitale Stellwerke: DSTW) are ETCS-capable, which is why some of the existing interlockings have to be converted.

The last intact relay interlocking (Relaisstellwerk: RSTW) on Berlin's southern outer ring is located in Schönefeld. This will be decommissioned with the construction of a new ESTW outdoor system (ESTW-Außenanlage: ESTW-A). The new Simis D generation interlocking from Siemens is being built directly next to the RSTW. As part of this project, rail freight capacity will also be increased by rebuilding a sixth station track in Schönefeld (new track 5). For this purpose, the platform edge at track 5 and the transfer connection to the S-Bahn must be adapted. Finally, the ESTW-A is to be integrated into the ESTW sub-center (ESTW-Unterzentrale: ESTW-UZ) Selchow.

The control areas of the ESTW-UZ Selchow (this includes the ESTW-A Glasower Damm) and Erkner (this includes the ESTW-A Köpenick) already correspond to an interlocking generation that is ETCS-capable as type Simis D. In contrast, all interlockings in the control areas of the Grünauer Kreuz, Genshagener Heide and Michendorf interlocking zones must be replaced by new interlockings, as the Simis C interlockings are not ETCS-capable.

In this context, existing ESTW-A outside the ETCS equipment area, which are integrated into the affected ESTW-UZ, must also be replaced. This is because these Simis C-type ESTW-A are not compatible with the new interlockings. Therefore, a total of nine new Simis C interlockings are being designed and built in the control areas of the three ESTW-UZ. In the Seddin marshalling yard, on the other hand, several RSTW are currently still in use. These are also to be replaced by a new interlocking, whereby the interlocking areas of all RSTW will be merged in future.

The line can then be equipped with ETCS. For this purpose, balises are attached to the sleepers at regular intervals. Furthermore, three ETCS Radio Block Center (RBC) are planned for the Erkner – Seddin line. These must be connected to the interlocking via new interfaces. ETCS stop markers must be installed on the existing signal screens to replace the conventional signals in ETCS operation.

ETCS entry and exit areas must be set up at junctions if the neighboring lines are not equipped with ETCS. In Seddin, ETCS operation is to be guaranteed up to the entry group of the marshalling yard, where shunting will then take place without train protection. ETCS entry and exit must therefore also be made possible here.

The ETCS equipment is to be put into operation in several stages, as the interlockings in the equipment area will be completed at different times. By coordinating the schedule for the ETCS equipment with the schedule for the completion of the interlockings, it will be possible to bundle the necessary line closures. This approach will require temporary ETCS entries and exits between these line sections.

Existing ETCS entrances and exits will be removed at junctions with crossing routes in order to ensure seamless ETCS operation. There will also be close cooperation with corresponding ETCS measures that are being implemented at the same time. There are interdependencies with the following projects:

• in Erkner through the project Border crossing Poland: Poland – Frankfurt/Oder – Erkner,
• in Berlin Eichgestell and Saarmund through the project Berlin outer ring gap closure,
• at Glasower Damm through the “Dresdner Bahn” project and
• in the Genshagener Heide through the project Extension line Halle/Leipzig – Berlin (VDE 8.3).