Importance of interchangeability for urban guided transport equipment

The European Union wishes to develop strategies to increase the number of urban transport passengers over the coming years. Urban transport is the key transport mode for the decrease of congestion, pollution, energy consumption and limitation of land use by transport in cities. Urban areas are the drivers of the European economy. This implication of European authorities rests on the means mobilised in European research projects. These research projects aim at conceiving the common model of the future safe and interchangeable guided transport systems in Europe and highlights the problems related to the harmonisation of the steps of safety certification of such systems. Therefore, the concept of interchangeability ((UGTMS), (MODURBAN)), is important and, it means that system components can be produced from any suppliers and replaced without any substantial change in functionality or performance. It also allows the system to adapt to technology evolutions without significant modifications to its architecture. The main barriers for reaching these objectives are the complexity of the existing systems, the diversity of national legislation and the lack of international standards. The common model of this framework is needed to open the competitive market for urban transport.