Brussels, September 9, 2025 - The Signalling Company (TSC), a Škoda Group affiliate, has achieved another major milestone in its cooperation with Lineas, Europe’s largest private rail freight operator. The Belgian authorities have granted operational authorisation for the first HLD77 locomotive equipped with TSC’s modular software-defined safety platform. Initially running the national safety application, TBL1+, the platform turns the HLD77 into a software upgradeable vehicle with optimised operational and maintenance costs.
This approval represents the first homologation of a locomotive using the RailOS® operating system and safe computer iEVC® – a universal platform designed to host multiple signalling and other applications. In practice, it means that future upgrades, such as ETCS, can be installed quickly and cost-effectively, allowing the fleet to operate seamlessly not only in Belgium but also internationally, in neighbouring markets such as Germany and The Netherlands.
• “The authorisation of the HLD77 marks the realisation of a vision that we have shared with Lineas from day one and which was subsequently embraced by Škoda Group. Software-defined signalling can be more than a dream. It's here, its now, it’s real, and we invite everyone to come and witness it in action. It is also the first step in a sequence that will lead to equipping the HLD77 fleet with multiple signalling applications, including ETCS, enabling international mobility,” noted Alexandre Bétis, Managing Director of The Signalling Company. (....)