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GSM-R, Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway or GSM-Railway is an international
wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...
communications standard for
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
communication and applications. A sub-system of
European Rail Traffic Management System The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the o ...
(ERTMS), it is used for communication between train and railway regulation control centers. The system is based on
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
and ''EIRENE – MORANE'' specifications which guarantee performance at speeds up to 500 km/h (310 mph), without any communication loss. GSM-R could be supplanted by LTE-R, with the first production implementation being in South Korea. However,
LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...
is generally considered to be a " 4G" protocol, and the UIC's
Future Railway Mobile Communication System The Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) is an international wireless communications standard for railway communication and applications. It is designed as the successor to GSM-R (''Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway ...
( FRMCS) program is considering moving to something " 5G"-based (specifically
3GPP The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is an umbrella term for a number of standards organizations which develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. Its best known work is the development and maintenance of: * GSM and related 2G and ...
R15/16, i.e.
5G NR 5G NR (5G New Radio) is a radio access technology (RAT) developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for the 5G (fifth generation) mobile network. It was designed to be the global standard for the air interface of 5G networks. It is ...
), thus skipping two technological generations.


History

GSM-R is built on
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
technology, and benefits from the economies of scale of its GSM technology heritage, aiming at being a cost efficient digital replacement for existing incompatible in-track cable and analogue railway radio networks. Over 35 different such systems are reported to exist in Europe alone. The standard is the result of over ten years of collaboration between the various European railway companies, with the goal of achieving interoperability using a single communication platform. GSM-R is part of the
European Rail Traffic Management System The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the o ...
(ERTMS) standard and carries the signaling information directly to the train driver, enabling higher train speeds and traffic density with a high level of safety. The specifications were finalized in 2000, based on the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
-funded MORANE (Mobile Radio for Railways Networks in Europe) project. The specification is being maintained by the
International Union of Railways The International Union of Railways (, UIC) is an international rail transport industry body based in Paris. History The railways of Europe had originated during the nineteenth century as many separate concerns across numerous nations; this le ...
project ERTMS. GSM-R has been selected by 38 countries across the world, including all member states of the European Union and countries in Asia, Eurasia and northern Africa. GSM-R is a secure platform for voice and
data communication Data communication, including data transmission and data reception, is the transfer of data, transmitted and received over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optic ...
between railway operational staff, including drivers, dispatchers, shunting team members, train engineers, and station controllers. It delivers features such as group calls ( VGCS), voice broadcast (VBS), location-based connections, and call pre-emption in case of an emergency. This supports applications such as cargo tracking,
video surveillance Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal ...
in trains and at stations, and passenger information services. GSM-R is typically implemented using dedicated
base station Base station (or base radio station, BS) is – according to the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR) – a " land station in the land mobile service." A base station is called '' node B'' in 3G, '' eNB'' in L ...
masts close to the railway, with tunnel coverage effected using directional antennae or 'leaky' feeder transmission. The distance between the base stations is . This creates a high degree of redundancy and higher availability and reliability. In Germany, Italy and France the GSM-R network has between 3,000 and 4,000
base stations Base station (or base radio station, BS) is – according to the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR) – a " land station in the land mobile service." A base station is called '' node B'' in 3G, '' eNB'' in LT ...
. In areas where the
European Train Control System The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a train protection system designed to replace the many incompatible systems used by European railways, and railways outside of Europe. ETCS is the signalling and control component of the European ...
(ETCS) Level 2 or 3 is used, the train maintains a
circuit switched Circuit switching is a method of implementing a telecommunications network in which two network nodes establish a dedicated communications channel ( circuit) through the network before the nodes may communicate. The circuit guarantees the full ...
digital
modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...
connection to the train control center at all times. This modem operates with higher priority than normal users (eMLPP). If the modem connection is lost, the train will automatically stop.


Upper system

GSM-R is one part of
ERTMS The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the o ...
(European Rail Traffic Management System) which is composed of: *
ETCS The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a train protection system designed to replace the many incompatible systems used by European railways, and railways outside of Europe. ETCS is the signalling and control component of the European ...
(European Train Control System) * GSM-R * ETML (European Traffic Management Layer) * EOR (European Operating Rules)


Frequency band

GSM-R is standardized to be implemented in either the E-GSM (900 MHz-GSM) or DCS 1800 (1,800 MHz-GSM)
frequency band Spectral bands are regions of a given spectrum, having a specific range of wavelengths or frequencies. Most often, it refers to electromagnetic bands, regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. More generally, spectral bands may also be means in ...
which are both being used around the world.


Europe

Europe includes the CEPT member states, which include all EU members and Albania, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Moldavia, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Vatican City. Although previously members of the CEPT, Belarus and Russia had their memberships suspended, indefinitely, with effect from 00:00 (CET), 18 March 2022. The CEPT Assembly made this decision following a poll of members by the CEPT Presidency, and published their decision on 17 March 2022.) GSM-R uses a specific
frequency band Spectral bands are regions of a given spectrum, having a specific range of wavelengths or frequencies. Most often, it refers to electromagnetic bands, regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. More generally, spectral bands may also be means in ...
, which can be referred to as the "standard" GSM-R band: * Uplink: 876–880 MHz used for data transmission * Downlink: 921–925 MHz used for data reception In Germany, this band was extended with additional channels in the 873–876 MHz and 918–921 MHz range. Being used formerly for regional
trunked radio system A Trunked Radio System (TRS) is a two-way radio system that uses a control channel to automatically assign frequency channels to groups of user radios. In a traditional half-duplex land mobile radio system a group of users (a ''talkgroup'') w ...
s, the full usage of the new frequencies is aimed for 2015.Meldung ''DB darf zusätzliche GSM-R-Frequenzen für Bahnfunk nutzen''. In: DB Welt, Heft 12/2009, S. 15


China

GSM-R occupies a 4 MHz wide range of the E-GSM band (900 MHz-GSM). * Uplink: 885–889 MHz * Downlink: 930–934 MHz


India

GSM-R occupies a 1.6 MHz wide range of the P-GSM band (900 MHz-GSM) held by
Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...
: * Uplink: 907.8–909.4 MHz * Downlink: 952.8–954.4 MHz


Australia

GSM-R is being implemented within DCS 1800 band * Uplink: 1,770–1,785 MHz * Downlink: 1,865–1,880 MHz DCS 1800 band was initially divided and auctioned in paired parcels each of 2 × 2.5 MHz with duplex spacing of 95 MHz. State rail operators acquired six mostly non-grouped parcels which cover 2 × 15 MHz of spectrum to deploy GSM-R. State rail operators re-licensed 2 x 10 MHz of 1800 MHz spectrum in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney for Rail Safety and Control Communications. All except for South Australian Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure (Adelaide) re-licensed 2 x 5 MHz of 1800 MHz spectrum at commercial rates set by Australian Government.


Technical frequency usage in GSM-R

The used modulation is
GMSK In digital modulation, minimum-shift keying (MSK) is a type of continuous-phase frequency-shift keying that was developed in the late 1950s by Collins Radio employees Melvin L. Doelz and Earl T. Heald. Similar to OQPSK, MSK is encoded with bit ...
modulation (Gaussian Minimum-Shift Keying). GSM-R is a TDMA ("Time-Division Multiple Access") system. Data transmission is made of periodical ''TDMA frames'' (with a period of 4.615 ms), for each carrier frequency (physical channel). Each ''TDMA frame'' is divided in 8 time slots, named logical channels (577 μs long, each time-slot), carrying 148
bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as ...
s of information. There are worries that
LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...
mobile communication will disturb GSM-R, since it has been given a frequency band rather close to GSM-R. This could cause ETCS disturbances, random emergency braking because of lost communications etc. As a result, there is an increasing trend towards monitoring and managing GSM-R interference using active and automated testing on board trains and trackside.


Current GSM-R version

The GSM-R standard specification is divided in two EIRENE specifications: * Functional Requirement Specification (FRS): the definition of higher lever functional requirements * System Requirement Specification (SRS): the definition of the technical solutions supporting the functional requirements EIRENE defines the "Technical Specification for Interoperability" (TSI) as the set of mandatory specifications to be fulfilled to keep compatibility with other European networks; current TSI are FRS 7 and SRS 15. EIRENE also defines non-mandatory specifications, that are called "Interim version", which defines extra features that are likely to become mandatory in the next TSIs. The current versions are 21 December 2015 versions FRS 8.0.0 and SRS 16.0.0 The GSM-R specifications are fairly stable; the latest mandatory upgrade was in 2006. The complete timeline of GSM-R versions is: * December 2000: FRS 5/SRS 13, first version to be widely installed * October 2003: FRS 6/SRS 14 * May 2006: FRS 7/SRS 15, current TSI * June 2010: FRS7.1/SRS 15.1, current Interim version; the main added features over TSI are shunting radio and ETCS data only radio The current version of GSM-R can run on both R99 and R4 3GPP networks.


GSM-R uses

GSM-R permits new services and applications for mobile communications in several domains: * Transmission of Long Line Public Address (LLPA) announcements to remote stations down the line * Control and protection (Automatic Train Control/
ETCS The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a train protection system designed to replace the many incompatible systems used by European railways, and railways outside of Europe. ETCS is the signalling and control component of the European ...
) and
ERTMS The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the o ...
* Communication between train driver and regulation center * Communication of on-board working people * Information sending for ETCS * Communication between train stations,
classification yard A classification yard (American English, as well as the Canadian National Railway), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, and Australian English, and the former Canadian Pacific Railway) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway y ...
and
rail tracks Railway track ( and UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers ( railroad ties in American ...
It is used to transmit data between trains and railway regulation centers with level 2 and 3 of ETCS. When the train passes over a
Eurobalise A Eurobalise is a specific type of a balise installed between the rails of a railway. Eurobalises are part of the European Train Control System (ETCS). The balises are pre-programmed and contain information that is read by train antennas. One of ...
, it transmits its new position and its speed, then it receives back agreement (or disagreement) to enter the next track and its new maximum speed. Like other
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
devices, GSM-R equipment can transmit data and voice. New GSM-R features for mobile communication are based on GSM, and are specified by EIRENE project. Call features are: * PtP Call: ''Point-to-Point Call'', the same type of call as a normal
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
call * VGCS: ''Voice Group Call System'', quite similar to walkie-talkie communication but with a single uplink handled by the network (only one person can speak at a time) * VBS: ''Voice Broadcast System'', like a VGCS but only the call initiator can speak (the other are only listeners) * REC: ''Railways Emergency Call'', is a special VGCS defined as 299 with the highest priority possible (0) * SEC: ''Shunting Emergency Call'', is a special VGCS defined as 599 with the highest priority possible (0) * Priority control of all the different calls (PtP, VGCS, VBSm, REC and SEC calls) There are other additional features: * ''Functional Addressing'', alias system to call someone registered on the GSM-R network, only by knowing the temporary function user (engine driver of train such-and-such, ...) * ''Location Dependent Addressing'', routing system to call the most appropriate train controller regarding the current train position by dialling a pre-defined short code * ''Shunting'' mode, when users work on the tracks.


GSM-R features


ASCI (Advanced Speech Call Items) features

The following definitions are a part of the System Requirements Specification (SRS) as defined by the EIRENE standard.


VGCS (Voice Group Call Service)

:VGCS allows a great number of users to participate in the same call. This feature imitates the analogue PMR (Private Mobile Radio) group call with the PTT key (Push-to-Talk). :Three kinds of users are defined: the Talker, the Listener and the Dispatcher. The talker can become a listener by releasing the PTT key and a listener becomes a talker by pressing the PTT key. :One advantage of VGCS compared to multi-party calls (the GSM conference call feature) is the spectrum efficiency. Indeed, when many users are in the same cell they will use only one frequency for all listeners and two frequencies for the talker (as in point-to-point call). In a multi-party call, one timeslot is dedicated to each user. The second advantage compared to multi-party calls is that it is not necessary to know which mobiles are to take part in the call. A VGCS call is established on a purely geographic basis, subject to a mobile having previously enabled reception of the group concerned.


VBS (Voice Broadcast Service)

:VBS is a broadcast group call: this means that compared to VGCS, only the initiator of the call can speak. The others who join the call can only be listeners. This kind of call is mainly used to broadcast recorded messages or to make announcements.


REC (Railway Emergency Call)

:''REC'' is a group call, or VGCS, dedicated to urgency. It is a higher priority call (REC priority is level 0 – see below : eMLPP).


SEC (Shunting Emergency Call)

The Shunting Emergency Call is a dedicated group call with the number 599. The call is established with an emergency level priority whose level is the highest possible priority 0. The SEC is enabled and used by devices registered for shunting operations. The establishment of such a call leads to automatic acceptance of the call on all enabled devices within the current area or cell-group configured.


Multi-Level Precedence and Pre-emption Service (eMLPP)

:This defines the user's priority. The different priority levels are: :* A and B: Highest priority levels (not used by GSM-R networks) :* 0: Highest priority levels for ASCI and normal calls (mainly used for REC calls) :* 1: Lower priority than level 0 :* 2: Lower priority than level 1 :* 3: Lower priority than level 2 :* 4: Lowest priority level (default priority, assigned to Point-to-Point calls) :An ''Auto-Answering'' feature with a timer is also available for calls with priority 0, 1 and 2.


GSM-R Numbering Plan

The EIRENE SRS document defines a fixed numbering plan for GSM-R. It is defined by number prefixes. : Those numbers are used for functional registration and fixed entries for MSISDN or short dialcodes as defined within the HLR. 807660 for example defines a MSISDN of a mobile subscriber. The number 23030301 would be a functional number associated with the train number 30303 and the role of the user 01.


Eirene features


Functional number management

:* Functional numbering :** Allows to call a mobile station by its function: driver of the train xxx , ... :** It uses: :*** USSD and Follow Me :*** UUS1 (for number display) :* Location dependent addressing :** Establishes a call from a mobile station to (usually) a fixed subscriber/dispatcher performing a function in the area where the mobile station is located.


End Call Confirmation

:End Call Confirmation feature is only available for highest priority (Priority level 0) group calls (VGCS) and broadcast calls (VBS) (see eMLPP). :It consists of an end call report which sent by all mobile stations which joined the high priority call (initiator included). This report informs about: :* Call type :* Call duration :* Mobile station identity :* End call cause Normal, ended by user, mobile station power off by user, power off due to low battery, …) :* … :If the report cannot be sent (mobile station power off by user or power off due to low battery), the mobile station will try again (several times if needed) to send the report at the next power on.


Shunting mode

:Shunting mode is the application that will regulate and control user access to shunting communications. :A Link Assurance Signal (LAS) is provided to give reassurance to the driver that the radio link is working.


Direct mode

:Direct mode is the walkie-talkie mode (mobiles station talking to each other without the network) and has been proposed in Eirene, however it has never been in application since being based on analogue radio. :Sagemcom claims to have developed a GSM direct mode, not currently recognized in the GSM-R specification, and has no frequency allocation.


GSM-R market


GSM-R market groups

Different groups make up the GSM-R market: ;The network operators and the railway operators: : : : :


Railways using GSM-R


Australia

Transport NSW is installing a Digital Train Radio System (DTRS) throughout the electrified rail network, including 66 tunnels covering , bounded by
Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...
, Macarthur, Lithgow,
Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local governm ...
and
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
with GSM-R to replace the existing analogue MetroNet train radio. The replacement will fulfil recommendations from the Special Commission of Inquiry into the
Waterfall rail accident The Waterfall rail accident was a train accident that occurred on 31 January 2003 near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia. The train derailed, killing seven people aboard, including the train driver, and injuring 40. The accident is famous ...
to provide a common platform of communication for staff working on the railway. The equipment will be installed at about 250 locations and more than 60 sites in tunnels. The old analogue network was dismantled in 2020.
Public Transport Victoria Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria. It was previously the trading name of the Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authority in Victo ...
has installed a Digital Train Radio System (DTRS) on the
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
train network with GSM-R to replace the old system called Urban Train Radio System (UTRS). The equipment was installed at about 100 locations. It cost $152 million.


France

In France, the first commercial railway route opened with full GSM-R coverage is the
LGV Est The Ligne à Grande Vitesse Est européenne (East European High Speed Line), typically shortened to LGV Est, is a French high-speed rail line that connects Vaires-sur-Marne (near Paris) and Vendenheim (near Strasbourg). The line halved the tra ...
européenne linking Paris
Gare de l'Est The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris Est, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Ga ...
to
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
. It was opened on 10 June 2007. * On Sunday, 10 June 2007 at 06:43, the first high speed train to run on it was the
ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...
, the
high speed train High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...
from the German passenger operator:
Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...
. It linked the ''Gare de l'Est'' in Paris to
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...
(Germany). * On the same day, at 07:15, it was the opportunity of the TGV POS, the latest generation high speed train from the French operator,
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
. It linked
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
to Paris (Gare de l'Est).


Italy

As of 2008, in Italy more than of railway lines are served by the GSM-R infrastructure: this number includes both ordinary and high speed lines, as well as more than of tunnels. Roaming agreements with other Italian mobile operators allow coverage of lines not directly served by GSM-R. Roaming agreements have also been set up with French and Swiss railway companies and it is planned to extend them to other countries.


Netherlands

In the Netherlands, there is coverage on all the lines and the old system called Telerail was abandoned in favour of GSM-R in 2006.


Norway

In Norway, the GSM-R network was opened on all lines on 1 January 2007, replacing the older Scanet network.


United Kingdom

The implementation of over of GSM-R enabled railway, intended to replace both its legacy VHF 205 MHz National Radio Network (NRN) and UHF 450 MHz suburban
Cab Secure Radio Cab Secure Radio (CSR) was an in-cab analog transmission, analogue radiotelephone system formerly used on parts of the Rail transport in Great Britain, British railway network. Its main function was to provide a secure communication, secure speec ...
(CSR) systems is now complete as of January 2016. * By October 2013, both the
West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
(WCML) and
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...
(ECML) to Scotland were covered by GSM-R and UK train operator
Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated the ...
had implemented GSM-R on a significant number of routes in North and North-West of England. *In spring 2013, the Association of Train Operating Companies' website ''GSM-R Online'' announced that the implementation of the Southern half of the UK GSM-R system was complete as the final CA15 section had gone live (The UK GSM-R Project implementation divided the Mainland North and South of a map-line running from the Severn in the West to the Wash on the East coast). Infrastructure and installation work continued North of this division. Britain's GSM-R network was originally expected to be fully operational by 2013, but due to slippage in equipment fitting a later date became more likely. However, a Rail Safety & Standards Boardbr>document
indicated that the UK's Telecommunications Regulator, Ofcom, was to withdraw the existing NRN 205 MHz frequencies by 2015. Britain's GSM-R network's cost was originally put at £1.2 billion. That cost though did not include the WCML. * The
Cambrian Line The Cambrian Line (), sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line () and Cambrian Coast Line () for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury in England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services ...
ERTMS The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the o ...
Pwllheli Pwllheli ( ; ) is a market town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula (), in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011, which declined slightly to 3,947 in 2021; a large proportion (81%) were Welsh language, Welsh speaking. ...
to
Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, North Wales, and formerly in the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it ...
Rehearsal commenced on 13 February 2010 and successfully finished on 18 February 2010. The driver familiarisation and practical handling stage of the Rehearsal had provided an excellent opportunity to monitor the use of GSM-R voice in operation on this route. The first train departed Pwllheli at 08:53hrs in ERTMS Level 2 Operation with GSM-R voice being used as the only means of communication between the driver and the signaller. *
Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
fitted out a test train at
Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
it purchased for RSV testing of the GSM-R network. The train was formed from ex Gatwick Express stock. At a cost of £5.9 million, this custom-built machine known as the RSV (Radio Signal Verification) train started monitoring the Newport Synergy scheme and the
Cambrian Line The Cambrian Line (), sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line () and Cambrian Coast Line () for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury in England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services ...
. * On 2 September 2009, the Rugby to
Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...
section went live. * The first train (
Virgin Trains West Coast Virgin Trains (VT) (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise fro ...
390034 on the 09:15
Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...
service to London Euston) to use GSM-R on the south end of the WCML ran on 27 May 2009. This was the first vehicle to run in passenger service with GSM-R outside of the Strathclyde trial. * A fully functional GSM-R system had been on trial on the
North Clyde Line The North Clyde Line (defined by Network Rail as the ''Glasgow North Electric Suburban'' line) is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. The route is operated by ScotRail. As a result of the incorporation of the Airdrie–Bathgate rail ...
in Scotland since 2007. For some years before these trials commenced however, GSM-R had been in use for voice-only purposes – known as the 'Interim Voice Radio System' (IVRS) – in some locations where
axle counter An axle counter is a system used in railway signalling to detect the clear or occupied status of a specified section of track. The system generally consists of a wheel sensor (one for each end of the section) and an evaluation unit for counting ...
s are used for train detection, for example parts of the WCML between
Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...
and
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
. , the only areas of UK Network Rail still currently employing VHF train radio communications are on sections of the
Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
and Far North lines in Scotland, where the Radio Electronic Token Block system is utilised, using modified Ofcom frequencies around 180 MHz, having been de-scoped from the National GSM-R plan, due to practical difficulties involved in deploying the GSM-R system in this region. Currently, 100% of the UK network has GSM-R coverage.


Gallery

GSM-R-Station.jpg, GSM-R transmitter mast on the Nuremberg–Ingolstadt high-speed railway line GSM-R Panel Antennas on Lattice Mast.jpg, Kathrein GSM-R Panel Antennas on Lattice Mast


References


External links


GSM-R
at the
International Union of Railways The International Union of Railways (, UIC) is an international rail transport industry body based in Paris. History The railways of Europe had originated during the nineteenth century as many separate concerns across numerous nations; this le ...
* European Rail Traffic Management System GSM standard Rail transport mobile telecommunications standards