With the Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R) set to become obsolete between 2030-2035, the migration to the Future Rail Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) faces significant implementation challenges for railways. These challenges, coupled with significant resource demands and operational risks, raise serious concerns about the feasibility of a timely FRMCS migration.

In August, AERRL had published a position paper on ERTMS deployment (AERRL-Position-paper-ERTMS-deployment.pdf) where we had advocated for a fast and coordinated roll-out of FRMCS that is not dependent on the versions of ETCS higher than SV2.0.

This new document, co-signed by other representative bodies of the rail sector, explains in detail why and how we need to achieve this important goal.

AERRL, CER, ERFA and UNIFE support the development of the Baseline Light solution (or any solution for Baseline 3 products), which enables a faster migration and offers a cost-effective alternative for existing fleets, with potential savings of at least around EUR 1 billion. We are convinced that Baseline Light is a safe, interoperable and technically feasible solution, fit for the operational purpose.

Read our position paper by clicking here :https://aerrl.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-12-10-Joint-Position-Paper-ETCS-FRMCS-Compatibility.pdf