Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2189

Contents

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to 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^note, and in particular Article 7(4) thereof,Whereas:

(1)On 18 May 2026, Greece submitted to the Commission a request for non-application of paragraph (1) of point 7.4.2.4.1 of Annex I to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695^note (‘CCS TSI’) to 111 vehicles operated by Hellenic Train until 31 December 2040 (the ‘request’). The request was submitted on the basis of Article 7(1), point (c), of Directive (EU) 2016/797.

(2)Paragraph (1) of point 7.4.2.4.1 of Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695 sets out the requirement that vehicles to be authorised with a new on-board ETCS interoperability constituent need to implement the sets of specifications required by that Implementing Regulation.

(3)The project referred to in the request consists of authorising 111 vehicles of the following types to be operated by Hellenic Train with already installed ETCS on board: EMU-Siemens Desiro 460, RAIL-BUS STADLER DMU 560, MAN 2000 DMU621, Locomotive Adtranz Class 220, LOCOMOTIVE 120 SIEMENS, with their individual European Vehicle Registration numbers listed in the Annex to this Decision.

(4)According to the documents submitted by Greece, the upgrade of the ETCS equipment to meet latest requirements (ETCS Baseline 4) would delay the use of ETCS aboard those vehicles from late 2026 to 2030. Complying with paragraph (1) of point 7.4.2.4.1 of Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695 would entail an additional cost of approximately EUR 59000000, due to the costs of the upgrade to the currently required version of specifications and due to the revenue lost if vehicles were to be immobilised until 2030. These additional costs would compromise the economic viability of the project. Additionally, the four years delay in the use of ETCS would delay the expected significant improvement of the current level of safety of the Greek rail network.

(5)As an alternative provision, Greece proposes to apply point 7.4.2.1(1) of the Annex to Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/919 as valid on 31 December 2018^note, which lays down that the ETCS can be implemented / also according to set of specification #1 that is Baseline 2, system version 1.1 and with system requirement specifications 2.3.0d. This ETCS on-board version is compatible with the currently deployed ETCS on the infrastructure in Greece. This allows the use of ETCS in Greece without delay and it would increase the safety on the Greek rail network.

(6)Based on the justification for the request provided by Greece and the alternative provision proposed, the conditions set out in Article 7(1), point (c), and Article 7(4) of Directive (EU) 2016/797 can be considered as fulfilled for the 111 vehicles operated by Hellenic Train. The request should therefore be accepted.

(7)The Greek infrastructure manager plans to migrate gradually to the radio-based ETCS, including a change in ETCS baseline and the system version required for on-board equipment in accordance with the Greek national implementation plan of CCS TSI. That change will be driven by future ETCS modernisation plans and by the obligation to introduce radio-based ETCS/ERTMS, which is to be introduced by 31 December 2050 at the latest pursuant to Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1679 of the European Parliament and of the Council^note. The migration would trigger an upgrade of the ETCS on board those vehicles, which requires the infrastructure manager to provide notice of a five years transition period to the railway undertakings or vehicle owners as mentioned in point 7.4.2.4.2 of Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695. The upgrade will be preceded by a study in 2030-2035, including a cost-benefit analysis of the migration. This Decision should therefore apply until 31 December 2040 or until an earlier date on which an upgrade of the on-board ETCS is required as specified in a notification based on point 7.4.2.4.2 of Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695 from the Greek infrastructure manager, whichever occurs first.

(8)Safety, as set out by Directive (EU) 2016/797, is an essential requirement which is to be met by the Union rail system, the subsystems and the interoperability constituents, including interfaces. The Commission should therefore be provided with any information indicating that the non-application of paragraph (1) of point 7.4.2.4.1 of Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695 could compromise the safety of the railway system. In particular, the Commission should be notified if the on-board ETCS equipment of the concerned vehicles needs to be error-corrected based on the procedure specified in point 7.2.10 of Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695

(9)The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 51(1) of Directive (EU) 2016/797,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 #

The request of Greece for non-application of paragraph (1) of point 7.4.2.4.1 of Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695 to the 111 vehicles operated by Hellenic Train listed in the Annex to this Decision is accepted on condition that the alternative provision proposed by Greece is applied.Greece shall notify the Commission without delay of any changes to the identifiers of the vehicles listed in the Annex.

Article 2 #

Greece shall without undue delay inform the Commission in the following cases:

(a)once the Greek infrastructure manager has notified the requirement to upgrade the on-board ETCS based on point 7.4.2.4.2 of Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695;

(b)once the 2030-2035 study on the migration of ETCS to newer versions is available;

(c)once it has information that the non-application referred to in Article 1 may reasonably compromise the safety of the railway system, especially if the on-board ETCS equipment of the concerned vehicles needs to be corrected for errors.

Article 3 #

This Decision is addressed to the Hellenic Republic.It shall apply until 31 December 2040 or until the end of the transition period following the notification referred to in Article 2, point (a), whichever occurs first.

1.ERATV typeID: 13-286-0001-8-001-001ERATV type name: EMU-Siemens Desiro 460Registered vehicle number – EVN947324601014947324602012947324601022947324602020947324601030947324602038947324601048947324602046947324601055947324602053947324601063947324602061947324601089947324602087947324601097947324602095947324601121947324602129947324601113947324602111

2.ERATV typeID: 13-289-0001-2-001-001ERATV type name: RAIL-BUS STADLER DMU 560Registered vehicle number – EVN957325601020957325602028957325601046957325602044957325601053957325602051957325601061957325602069957325601087957325602085957325601103957325602101957325601137957325602135957325601145957325602143957325601152957325602150957325601160957325602168957325601079957325601129957325602077957325602127

3.ERATV typeID: 13-287-0001-6-001-001ERATV type name: MAN 2000 DMU621Registered vehicle number – EVN957326211019957326212017957326211027957326212025957326211035957326212033957326211043957326212041957326211050957326212058957326212074957326211084957326212082957326211092957326211100957326212108957326211118957326212116957326211134957326212132957326211142957326212140957326211126957326211159957326212124957326212157

4.ERATV typeID: 11-229-0001-0-001-001 and 11-229-0002-8-001-001ERATV type name: Locomotive Adtranz Class 220Registered vehicle number – EVN927322200027927322200035927322200043927322200050927322200068927322200076927322200118927322200134927322200142927322200167927322200175927322200183927322200191927322200225927322200233927322200241927322200258927322200274927322200290927322200316927322200324927322200332927322200340927322200357

5.ERATV typeID: 11-231-0001-6-001-001, 11-231-0002-4-001-001ERATV type name: LOCOMOTIVE 120 SIEMENSRegistered vehicle number – EVN917321200078917321200086917321200102917321200144917321200151917321200169917321200177917321200185917321200193917321200201917321200219917321200243917321200268917321200284917321200292917321200300917321200029

List of 111 vehicles subject to this Decision.

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