There was a presentation recently to the 'Institution of Mechanical Engineers' by
NR» about
ERTMS▸ . The slides from the presentation which was titled 'ERTMS the story of a success' are available here:
http://www.imeche.org/Libraries/Human_Resources/ERTMS_-_story_of_a_success.sflb.ashx(I've nicked this link from the Nat Pres forum)
A look at the poor performance statistics on p21-24, massive cost overruns and the fact that the project was delivered several years late lead me to wonder how the word success if defined by NR!
The most worrying thing I found in the whole presentation I think is hidden in a bullet point on p29:
'Needs a different approach to driving ^ ERTMS is more cautious than humans'
As if over defensive cautious defensive driving polices on the Western (especially
LTV▸ Turbo operated services) weren't causing enough delays/wasted time we will have to cope with even slower trains when the system is progressively introduced on the Western Region from 2014!
I thought the whole point of the system was to speed up trains and increase capacity - I'm a bit worried now!