Digital Rail starter package

The digitalization of the rail network through installing ­ETCS and digital interlockings is to be implemented from 2020 onwards. The additional block until 2023 that the BMF placed on the funds in the Federal budget allocated to implementing the starter package was repealed in January 2020. The starter package comprises the Stuttgart metropolitan region, the Cologne — Rhein/Main high-­speed rail line and the Scandinavia — Mediterranean trans-­European Corridor. As part of a model project, the Federal Government will also promote the retrofitting of rolling stock with ETCS and, as required, ATO (Automatic Train Operation) proportionately until 2025 in the Stuttgart metropolitan area.