

Paving the way to FRMCS
Several railway operators are on the way to digitalization and automation of their railway operations, they are already running special programs, such as Smart Rail 4.0, Digitale Schiene, DigiRail, etc. These programs allow future services to run even more reliably, increase capacity on the existing rail networks, improve safety for employees and optimize system costs. FRMCS, enabled by the latest mobile communication technology – 5G – plays a central role by not only replacing the legacy GSM-R communication system, but also by allowing the implementation of a broad range of new use cases, such as ATO, IoT and remote operation.
Nevertheless, the introduction path will be phased. Coexistence and extended lifecycle of current generation systems will run for quite a few years on a parallel track. FRMCS technology will be tested and gradually deployed throughout the network and rolling stock fleet until GSM-R switches off.