Smart applications for transport - ERTMS – unit contribution

Topic updates

15 July 2025
Information update on the 2024 CEF Transport SIMOBCOEN call

Call published: 24/09/2024

Call deadline: 21/01/2025

Indicative budget: EUR 165 000 000

Total budget requested by the applicants: EUR 146.919.905,00

Number of admissible and eligible proposals: 10

Number of inadmissible proposals: 0

Number of ineligible proposals: 1

Number of successful proposals: 7

Total budget for the successful proposals: EUR 128.329.770,00

12 February 2025

The nine CEF Transport calls for proposals closed on 21 January 2025. In total, 258 proposals were submitted requesting over €9.5 billion co-funding from the CEF Transport budget. It is nearly 4 times more than the €2.5 billion available for these calls

The SIMOBCOEN call received 11 applications for a requested funding of over EUR 146 million from the CEF Transport budget.

CINEA will first check the admissibility and eligibility of the proposals. The evaluation will continue with the support of independent external experts. The results will be made available to applicants in July 2025.

Smart applications for transport - ERTMS – unit contribution

TOPIC ID: CEF-T-2024-SIMOBCOEN-ERTMS-UNITS

Type of grant: Call for proposals

General information

Programme:

Call: CEF 2 Transport - Actions related to smart and interoperable mobility – Cohesion envelope (CEF-T-2024-SIMOBCOEN)

Type of action: CEF-ERTMS-UN CEF ERTMS Unit Grants

Type of MGA: CEF Unit Grant [CEF-AG-UN]

Status: Open for submission

Deadline model: single-stage

Opening Date: 24 September 2024

Deadline dates: 21 January 2025 17:00 (Brussels time)

Topic description

Objective:

The objective is to increase the interoperability of rail transport by deploying European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).

Scope:

The following works can be supported:

• European Rail Traffic Management Systems (ERTMS) on-board and track-side deployment.

The projects must be compliant with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695^[1], and with Directive (EU) 2016/797^[2] and Directive (EU) 2016/798^[3] of the European Parliament and of the Council or subsequent versions.

CEF support is granted in the form of unit contributions as defined in the Commission Decision authorising the use of unit costs to support the deployment of ERTMS under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) – Transport^[4].

For ERTMS on-board proposals:

• • • Support for retrofitting and upgrade will be limited to vehicles put into operation before 31/12/2020.
    • Support will not be given to fitment of new vehicles.
    • “International” unit contribution is granted to vehicles planned for authorisation to operate with ERTMS in more than one Member State, including at least 1 Cohesion Member State.
    • “Software + Hardware” unit contribution is granted to vehicles demonstrating a necessity for hardware modification(s).

For ERTMS track-side proposals:

• • • Proposals covering electronic interlocking and/or Class A radio communication as a stand-alone project shall demonstrate a link with ETCS deployment on the railway line(s) in subject.
    • “Urban Node” unit contribution is granted to lines subject to ERTMS deployment located within the administrative borders of a city referred to in the Annex II of the revised TEN-T Regulation.

[1] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695 of 10 August 2023 on the technical specification for interoperability relating to the control-command and signalling subsystems of the rail system in the European Union and repealing Regulation (EU) 2016/919.

[2] Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union (OJ L 138, 26.5.2016, p. 44).

[3] Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on railway safety (recast) (OJ L 138, 26.5.2016, p. 102).

[4] Decision authorising the use of unit contributions to support the deployment of ERTMS, electric vehicles recharging infrastructure and the retrofitting of noisy wagons under CEF Transport – 22 July 2021, https://transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-07/2021-07-22-ertms-af-noise.pdf

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