Taking the high-level objectives set out in the S2R Master Plan as a starting point, and considering the role that rolling stock plays within the whole railway system, the high-level objectives of IP1 can be summarized as follows.
- Increase the physical capacity of vehicles and support the enhancement of transport capacity of railway lines.
- Reduce travel disruptions for passengers by increasing the operational reliability and availability of vehicles, through the use of either fundamentally more reliable components or system/subsystem architectures.
- Reduce the LCC of vehicle fleets (through reduced initial investment, maintenance, energy consumption, etc.) and of other subsystems of the railways interacting with vehicle fleets (e.g. through reduced track damage).
- Increase the energy efficiency of vehicles through more efficient components and vehicle mass reduction.
- Promote modal shift through more attractive and comfortable vehicles, more punctual services and cheaper tickets.
The high-level objectives need to be achieved through specific actions. In particular in T.D1.2 Train control and monitoring system (TCMS) the new drive-by-data concept for train control, along with wireless information transmission, will make new control functions possible, involving interaction between vehicles, consists and trains, with high safety and reliability levels achieved through very simple physical architectures. The targeted full connectivity of rail vehicles will enable the awaited digital railway. A new function-centric approach, together with higher standardization levels, will lead to cost-efficient solutions and improved interoperability. A new generation TCMS will allow bottlenecks currently caused by physically coupled trains to be overcome. Concepts made by different companies and with different interfaces could be virtually coupled and driven together, sharing the same traffic slot.