First VIRM begins ETCS installation

On 6 January, Dirk-Jan Pasman, a Product Owner and Project Manager at NS, posted on LinkedIn that the first VIRM train, number 8742, has been taken to the workshop to begin installation of ETCS equipment. To the quote the entire post, translated from Dutch to English using LibreTranslate:

Nice start of the new year, proud and big milestone!

Today, the first VIRM train will roll into the workshop that we are going to provide with ETCS (European Train Control System). Over the past period we have worked hard together towards this beautiful moment.

By installing ETCS in the VIRM, we make the largest intercity fleet of NS ready for the future.

With fresh energy we will work together during this next phase of this beautiful project!

In 2022, Siemens Mobility was awarded the contract to equip 176 VIRM trains with ETCS Level 2 technology and maintenance of the system which the Dutch Railway, NS, plans to extend to the SLT and FLIRT trains in the future. At the time drivers were planned to start simulated training using the system in Q4 2023.