23/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 22 July, the European Commission adopted a plan to implement the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). This plan provides that by 2020, the main trans-national railway links of Europe will progressively become equipped with the ERTMS system, which will allow signalling to be harmonised and train traffic to be coordinated along the entire length of the corridors. Initially (up to 2015), the system will be deployed over a network of around 10,000 km of lines, including major goods traffic corridors, such as Rotterdam-Genoa, Antwerp-Basel and Barcelona-Lyons-Budapest-Constanta. In 2020, ERTMS should be installed on all rail axes linking the main freight ports and terminals of Europe (around 25,000 km of lines). The Commission has given its support to the project, with co-funding of a total of €500 million from the budget of the trans-European transport networks 2007-2013 and from the Regional and Cohesion Funds. (A.By./transl.fl)