When European Union heads of government in 1993 ordered a group of railway experts to come up with a single signalling system to unite Europe’s railways, it was part of a surge of idealism. A common, open standard for control equipment on trains and at the side of tracks would play a part, it was thought, in spurring a renaissance in Europe’s railways.

Some 13 years on, that is no longer the feeling surrounding the European Rail Traffic Management System. ERTMS is in regular use on only a few stretches of Europe’s railways. Attempts to introduce it have led to several late openings of new lines as equipment has failed to operate properly. Train operators and suppliers angrily pass the blame around among themselves for delays in the system’s introduction, and costs are spiralling.