Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R) is a radio communication system offering a wide range of voice and data services needed for daily operation of railways. GSM-R provides telephony, SMS and data services, as do public GSM networks.
GSM-R facilitates the communication between train driver and traffic control centres, by providing specific features such as group communication, location dependent addressing, priority levels, railway emergency calls, shunting communication.
From the year 2000 onwards, GSM-R has been introduced all over Europe as a common standard for railway operations essential to interoperability, as well as in many other parts of the world. Expansion of the GSM-R implementation is still ongoing.
GSM-R is the data communication bearer for the European Train Control System (ETCS), in particular for ETCS Level 2 and Level 3. GSM-R is fully defined in ETSI standards.
GSM-R networks have to coexist with other public mobile network technologies such as 3G and 4G, which may result in a risk of issues due to interferences. ERA, together with DG MOVE, DG Connect and the railway sector, is well aware and mobilised about this critical issue.
Following the cycle of meetings of the GFUG (GSM-R Follow-Up Group), a document presenting different aspects of the coexistence between the railway communication system based on GSM-R and public mobile networks was elaborated as a synthesis of the GFUG activities. This document (DV81/RSCOM 15-60), endorsed by both the RISC Committee and the Radio Spectrum Committee, presents an overview of different aspects of this coexistence, from a regulatory point of view (including references to CEPT reports) and including some technical solutions (referencing amongst others the ETSI TS on improved radio receivers). The document proposes a way forward for managing the coexistence, to be seen by Member States as a guidance on best practices (e.g. not part of any legislative procedure).
DV81_RSCOM 15-60
English (259.3 KB - PDF)GSM-R and Interferences - Managing the co-existence
English (264.75 KB - PDF)Radio spectrum management
English (318.27 KB - PDF)The involved suppliers have indicated that they will support GSM-R technology and GSM-R products at least until 2030. Taking into account the time needed to deploy another radio system and to mitigate the risk of GSM-R obsolescence, the Agency has launched a project to investigate the options for a smooth transition from GSM-R to a next generation system. The Agency will advise the European Commission on the possible impact of the introduction of a new railway radio communication on the current EU regulatory framework.
ERA, in its role of system design authority for the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS), is leading the project on the evolution of the railway radio which has a direct impact on the Control Command and Signalling (CCS) Technical Specification for Interoperability (TSI). This means that the main applications of the current radio system, as defined in the CCS TSI, are considered as reference and co-existence with these applications is mandatory. However, the next system is expected to support future changes and extensions of the applications covered by the CCS TSI and other TSIs, as well as railway related applications outside TSIs. The provisioning of mobile communication services that are usually offered by public networks to passengers (e.g. internet access) is out of scope.
This project is composed of four workstreams: functionality, technology, spectrum and transition. ERA encourages active participation in these workstreams. evolution-radio
era [dot] europa [dot] eu (Contact us) for any contribution to the project or request for more information
Many activities are performed in close cooperation with the railway sector and standardisation bodies. ERA coordinates the activities by means of a common deliverable roadmap. The functional requirements are drafted by UIC (in the frame of FRMCS project), whilst detailed technical specifications are drafted by ETSI. The outcomes of this cooperation will be used as input for the project and supplemented by studies as appropriate.
Study for the evolution of the railways communication system by Analysys Mason
English (1.47 MB - PDF)Ex-post analysis of the relevance of GSM-R for railway operational performance and railway safety
English (1.59 MB - PDF)Study on the evolution of GSM-R by IDATE-WIK
English (4.74 MB - PDF)Study on migration of railway radio communication from GSM-R to other solutions by Systra
English (3.13 MB - PDF)Study on co-existence of GSM-R and other radio technologies in the current railway radio spectrum by LS telcom
English (2.66 MB - PDF)Study on feasibility of satcom for railway applications by INDRA_ALG
English (4.62 MB - PDF)Study on implications of the bearer independent communication concept by Systra
English (8.84 MB - PDF)Study on the architecture of on-board radio equipment
English (3.3 MB - PDF)Agency Report to the Commission: Evolution of Railway Radio Communication: System Definition
English (589.43 KB - PDF)The documents presented in points 1 to 5 are used as input documents as a basis for the Agency to develop a catalogue of GSM-R test cases for the mandatory requirements in the CCS TSI.
The Agency does not have any responsibility in the interoperability verifications done by any specific provider or in the results. Interconnection tests between different providers are not a requirement in the CCS TSI, and the Agency has no involvement with the activities between providers nor with the results obtained. The Agency does not endorse any testing activities or results, which are out of the scope of its functions.
provided by Kapsch CarrierCom and Nokia Siemens Networks.
These documents are the results of the study financed by the TEN-T E Agency Multi Annual Programme 2007-EU-60040-P (Activity 9 : GSM-R Interoperability Tests).
The involvement of the Agency was restricted to the activities related to the test cases description, not to any use of this document to test any set of equipment.
Draft selection of test cases coming from the document in point 2 above, that cover Mandatory for Interoperability requirements. This is an extract of a document produced to the Agency by UIC, that is also being used as input for the final recommendation on GSM-R test cases.
Draft document containing test cases for cab radios that cover Mandatory for Interoperability requirements. This document is a draft, provided to the Agency by UIC, that will be used as input for the recommendation on GSM-R test cases.
provided by Nokia Networks, Kapsch CarrierCom, Funkwerk and Frequentis.
These documents are the results of the activity cofinanced by the TEN-T E Agency Multi Annual Programme 2011-EU-60013-S (Activity 10 : “GSM-R Interoperability/compatibility testing” and Activity 5 “GSM-R Industry Group Support to ERA”).
For information, the following references have also been made available to the Agency with information related to the providers’ internal activities:
(1) Test Plans
English (1.47 MB - ZIP)(2) Test specification
English (17.64 MB - PDF)(3) Selected Cases for network assessment (draft)
English (4.95 MB - PDF)(4) Cab radio functional test specification (draft)
English (3.15 MB - PDF)(5) Test plans and reports
English (1.8 MB - ZIP)The applicable documents Subset-093 v4.0.0 (“GSM-R Interfaces — Class 1 requirements”) and O-2475 v4.0.0 (“ERTMS GSM-R QoS test specification”), containing the KPIs for GSM-R CS and GSM-R PS have been included in the CCS TSI Application Guide under indexes 5 and 37.
The ERTMS Users Group (EUG) has produced some documents that have been used as input for the Quality of Service requirements defined in Subset-093 (04E117, containing an operational analysis, and 09E033, with a review of the ETCS integration). They can be found here.
Click here to access the ERTMS page.