TRIGO accelerates ETCS compliance for Europe’s rail network

TRIGO, the global leader in inspection, engineering and quality consulting services for the transportation industry, is leveraging its rail expertise to help people prepare for the new European Train Control System (ETCS) signaling standard. Attending InnoTrans 2024 in Berlin from September 24-27, TRIGO can assist partners in developing customized roadmaps to comply with this immediate regulatory requirement, which calls for rapid and precise upgrades to rail signaling systems by 2030.

Conformity and harmonization of Europe’s rail network

A breakthrough in railway regulation and signaling, the ETCS standard is designed to reinforce and harmonize railway rolling stock in Europe, replacing a signaling infrastructure not only ill-suited to high-speed trains, but also fairly heterogeneous across Europe. The directive, announced on June 15, 2024, calls on Member States to integrate it into national legislation within 2 years. 

For manufacturers and suppliers, this standard imposes stricter performance and safety requirements. Companies must comply with more stringent criteria, presenting new challenges in terms of quality control and deadlines. From a technical perspective, this requires the development of new parts or bringing existing ones in line with the new safety regulations. While new trains will have to be developed in compliance with ETCS, older ones will require significant modifications to comply with these new standards.

Scaling up retrofit operations

Thousands of trains in Europe will undergo retrofitting, integrating new parts into trains that were initially developed under the previous standards. TRIGO's expertise in the railway sector enables it to support railway operators and rolling stock manufacturers in their quality control procedures, rapidly upskilling staff and anticipating and responding to any disruptions in the production line.

A renowned expert in quality control for the rail sector

With over 25 industry customers in 12 countries including France, Germany, Spain and Canada, TRIGO brings proven experience to the cutting-edge rail sector, with a commitment to supporting innovation focusing on low-carbon markets. To prepare for the ETCS directive, TRIGO's rail consultants have already undergone specialized training to acquire the advanced skills needed for retrofitting.

This initiative is part of the rail division's strong growth, which has seen revenue grow by over 30% since 2023. This development was marked by the extension of its global contract with Alstom, which has quadrupled in value over the last 15 years.

“Our qualified experts draw on their in-depth knowledge of the European rail market to respond to intra-European variations and prepare precise roadmaps to reconcile the requirements of the new directive with the diverse needs of our customers,” explained Jean-Baptiste Pomar, International Business Manager at TRIGO.

“TRIGO's expertise supports us in quality control and production operations. The proximity of their teams to main rail retrofit hubs and their experience in managing projects across multiple countries prove their reliability to a company like ours, a world leader in sustainable and intelligent mobility,” said Benjamin Lagarde, Head of Alstom's Supplier Quality for the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).

For the past 15 years, TRIGO has been involved in a wide range of operations, such as identifying and solving quality issues, supporting and ensuring supplier compliance with manufacturers (audits, training personnel for clients, engineering projects), and providing manufacturing support (mechanical and electrical maintenance operations, rework of parts and train retrofitting to comply with the strictest standards).

In 2022, TRIGO developed significant expertise in special processes, such as welding, bonding, wiring, dynamometer clamping and painting. Rail consultants are frequently called upon to rapidly help meet technical requirements, verify process reliability and train operators in these specialized fields.

“TRIGO has developed genuine expertise among rail players, supported by 300 inspectors, technicians and engineers at 14 customer sites covered by the Group. They inspect and check almost 10,000 parts and nearly 100 trains per month,” said Jean-Baptiste Pomar.

At InnoTrans 2024, TRIGO will be showcasing its latest innovations in quality management applied to industrial production, including the use of artificial intelligence in quality control with its Spark solution, along with its tool for ECTS compliance.

TRIGO will be exhibiting in Hall 6.1 - Stand 310 at InnoTrans 2024