As a key infrastructure of the country, the reliability, safety, and evolutionary capability of the railway’s communication system are directly related to transportation efficiency and operational safety. Currently, the GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications in Railways) technology widely used in the railway industry has been in service for nearly 20 years, providing important support for train scheduling, voice communication, and basic data transmission. However, with the rapid iteration of technology and the upgrading of business requirements, GSM-R is facing severe challenges:
The lifecycle is approaching its end: GSM-R technology originated in the 2G era, and the global industrial chain has entered a decline period. The supply of related chips, equipment, and spare parts is becoming increasingly tight, making it difficult to ensure long-term, stable, and reliable network operation and expansion.
The bandwidth bottleneck is highlighted: as a narrowband technology, GSM-R can only provide data transmission capacity of about 100kbps, and can only support very limited low-speed data applications (such as train location reporting, short messages, etc.) except for core voice services.
Unable to meet digital demands: The trend of railway intelligence (such as train beyond line of sight perception, real-time video monitoring, train control system data interaction, passenger information services, etc.) requires high bandwidth, low latency, and high concurrency communication capabilities, which GSM-R can no longer bear.
Therefore, the next generation railway mobile communication system promoted by the International Union of Railways (UIC), based on the 3GPP unified standard and continuously evolving for the future, is the inevitable successor of GSM-R.
Core competencies of the plan
Large bandwidth
Using 5G NR technology, a single cell can reach several hundred Mbps, supporting multiple concurrent services such as video feedback, train status monitoring, and passenger information.
wide coverage
Optimized coverage for scenarios such as narrow railways and multiple tunnels, supporting seamless switching at speeds of up to 350km/h and eliminating communication blind spots.
highly reliable
Telecommunication grade redundancy design, QoS/network slicing to ensure critical services, air interface encryption and core network security reinforcement, meet the high requirements of railway operation.
Compatible with 4G network
The system supports both 5G and 4G LTE (including LTE-R), and terminals can automatically switch between dual-mode/multi-mode modes, sharing existing 4G base stations and core network resources to protect existing investments.
Typical application scenarios
Scene value
Intelligent scheduling and real-time high-definition video feedback for remote driving, assisting emergency control
Digital status data collection for train operation and maintenance to achieve predictive maintenance
Low latency monitoring of infrastructure along the line, reporting alarms and proactively issuing warnings
Passenger service upgrade includes onboard Wi Fi, high-definition content, and smart tickets
Smooth evolution, investment protection
Support GSM-R/4G/5G the third mock examination terminal, and automatically select network as required.
Unified scheduling of integrated core network, compatible with existing 4G and GSM-R systems.
Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) technology, utilizing 4G/5G shared frequency bands.
It can be gradually deployed in different regions to reduce one-time investment.
summary
The next-generation railway mobile communication system solution focuses on high bandwidth, wide coverage, and high reliability, and is fully compatible with 4G networks, completely breaking through the bottleneck of GSM-R and helping the railway industry enter a new era of digitization and intelligence