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Abstract

European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is a widely adopted standard unifying train management in the EU. While the standard allows for use cases like fully autonomous driving, cybersecurity has been an afterthought. Risk analysis enables the systematic assessment and prioritization of threats and mitigations. To date, it remains unclear which threats are most significant in ERTMS. This study systematically models components of ERTMS and analyzes their security in light of threats identified in the underlying technologies. The results suggest a concerning state of ERTMS, despite its critical role in railway safety. The use of legacy standards like EuroBalises and GSMRailway (GSM-R) introduces vulnerabilities that persist across minimal ERTMS implementations, deployments incorporating various optional safety measures, and prospective future evolutions of the system, e.g., adopting Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS). Fully transitioning to European Train Control System (ETCS) level 2 was identified as the most significant improvement to ERTMS cybersecurity. The results indicate that a shift of ERTMS toward security is required to ensure availability and safe operation. While the chosen methodology proved its feasibility and shows remaining weaknesses of ERTMS, future work is needed to develop railway-centric adaptations to improve the quantification and evaluation of the computed risks.