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).
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)