5G SA heads to UK train tracks

  • 5G FMRCS systems are largely expected to arrive later in the 2020s

  • Airspan is ahead of the pack, already working on a 5G rail project in the UK

  • Less is known about Amtrak's US plans for FMRCS 

Get ready for a faster rail experience thanks to 5G, at least in some parts of the world.

The 2G-based GSM-R system still serves much of the world – Africa, China, Europe and India – and much of the work to deploy its replacement, 5G-based Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), will take place in the second half of the 2020s and into 2030. There are, however, some rail-orientated 5G deployments that will start before that.

As your correspondent can attest, rail is one of the main ways to commute to work in the United Kingdom. Memories of bleary early morning trips to London still resonate. So the recent nationwide disruptions in the U.K. caused by the elderly GSM-R radio system which enables voice and basic text communication between the train drivers, dispatchers and station controllers brought it all home. Similar problems with GSM-R systems could possibly occur across much of the world in the near future.

5G on the EWR

Some interim 5G projects are coming into focus. In the U.K., Airspan announced that it has been selected by AWTG as the radio access network (RAN) partner for England’s Connected Heartland Railways (ECH-R) project.

This will see AirSpeed 1900 outdoor small cells deployed along rail tracks in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire in England. These open RAN-compliant radios will deliver 5G standalone (5G SA) powered internet access to passengers on the train, better real-time communications and onboard diagnostics for drivers and operational teams aboard the train, as well as providing fixed wireless access (FWA) for communities near the tracks.

The devil, however, is in the details. Fierce asked Airspan when they expect to deploy the small cells and how many would be installed. The company hasn’t responded, so it's unknown when those little radio nodules will actually be operational.

“We are aware that AWTG, Airspan Networks and other technology partners are preparing to deploy a standalone private 5G network to provide connectivity for operational teams and passengers along a section of the EWR (East West Rail) track between Bicester and Bletchley,” noted Asad Khan, 5G research director for SNS Telecom & IT, in an email. “The standalone 5G network will be built using outdoor small cells operating in Band n77 (3.8-4.2 GHz) spectrum designated for shared access licenses.”

5G, Mumbai-style

Indian transportation communications company Consort Digital offered a little more information on their 5G projects, while not actually naming the regional train operators involved. “We are already deploying current functionalities available with FRMCS on greenfield projects commercially,” said Devdarsh Jain in an email. “For complete FRMCS to be available in context of current GSM-R migration, we expect deployments to begin 2028.”

Systems integrator Consort has already undertaken projects like the first Indian monorail in Mumbai. SNS Telecom also noted in a December report on worldwide 4G and 5G train communications that the National Region Capital Transport Corporation is deploying an LTE private network on the Delhi-Meerut rapid transit system. The report notes that slow but steady updates from the 2G-based systems to modern (4G and 5G) alternatives are happening across the world, albeit often at a glacial pace.

Wither the United States?

The U.S. has its own radio-based Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) system, which was first introduced in 1999 and updated in 2004. This has been updated with GPS location facilities on the New York subway. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is also testing out Ultra-wideband wireless (UWB) radio signaling in parts of the subway.

There’s less information known, however, about if and when the national operator, Amtrak, will try to move onto FMRCS. The regional Amtrak Airo train cars, which will be introduced in 2026, still operate within the parameters of a combined electric and diesel infrastructure, traveling at a maximum of 125 MPH. The existing Acela trains can hit 150 MPH in northern Rhode Island but generally go at an average of 80 MPH for the rest of its route. This is well within the limits of existing systems like GSM-R, which can transfer data traveling at speeds of up to 300 MPH.

For the sake of context, the U.K. first introduced trains that could travel at 125 MPH in 1976. Trains in areas of China, France and other countries can travel far faster than that. It’s safe to say both the U.K. – and especially the U.S. – have some catching up to do.