Lisbon, July 16, 2025 (Lusa) - Portuguese international information systems and software company, Critical Software, has developed a railway safety solution that could enable new operators to enter the domestic market by ensuring compatibility with the European train control system.

Called STM (Standard Transmission Module), the system presented on Wednesday in Poceirão, in the district of Palmela, south of Lisbon, is the result of entirely private investment and aims to ensure the transition between the current Portuguese railway system and the European ETCS (European Train Control System), which is expected to be fully implemented by 2030.

The initiative has Alpha Trains, Hitachi, Medway and Stadler as partners.

"We started developing this solution three or four years ago," Luís Gargaté, director of the Automotive, Railway and Medical Systems division at Critical Software, told Lusa.

This is a ‘class B’ technology, i.e. transitional, which reads signals on railway beacons and performs safety functions such as speed control and automatic emergency braking.

According to the official, the system developed by the Portuguese technology company stands out for being external and independent of the solutions offered by major European manufacturers, which allows for greater market openness.

"Critical Software proposed, partly as a challenge from Infraestruturas de Portugal (the country's road and rail infrastructure managing company), to develop an independent system. It can be used with any system, whether from Hitachi, Alstom or anyone else," he explained. "The advantage of being an independent system is that it liberalises the market, allowing it to become more competitive for this solution."

The implementation of an interoperability solution is mandatory for trains wishing to operate in Portugal and comes at a time when the previous system, known as Convel, is obsolete and without guaranteed maintenance. "The old system, from Bombardier, has been discontinued for a long time, there are no new parts," said the head of Critical Software, founded in 1998 in Coimbra.

"If any operator, whether freight or passenger, wants to start operating in Portugal, they will have to wait for this system to be certified before they can do so," Luís Gargaté added.

STM certification is scheduled for the first half of 2026, and the first trains equipped with the system are expected to start running at the end of that year.

The project is being carried out in collaboration with Hitachi, Alpha Trains, Medway and Stadler, which are the companies that financed its development.

"To date, this is being paid for by private entities," said the official, indicating that there may be public or EU support in the future, but without confirmation for now.

In recent years, the Portuguese government has been promoting the liberalisation of the railway market, in line with European Union directives aimed at increasing competition in the sector and improving the quality of services.

This opening up is intended to allow new private operators, both passenger and freight, to operate in Portugal, which is currently dominated by CP in passenger transport and Medway in rail freight.

The aim is to stimulate innovation, reduce costs and expand supply, promoting a more efficient and competitive railway. For this liberalisation to be possible, it is essential that new operators are able to operate with control systems compatible with European standards, such as ETCS, ensuring interoperability and safety.

SCR/AYLS // AYLS

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