SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) is to install the new Future Rail Mobile Communications System (FRMCS) on the 26km Thun - Bern line. The project will act as an important real-world trial of the new 5G-based technology, which is being developed in Europe to replace GSM-R as the radio communications system for ERTMS.
While the FRMCS equipment is installed and tested, the existing GSM-R system will remain in use. SBB will convert some of the existing antennas located along the route and will also install new antennas, as the radio signal range of FRMCS is smaller due to an additional higher frequency of 1900MHz.
Before it can start work on site, SBB must obtain planning approval for two sections. The first application, for the section between Thun and Rubigen, was submitted at the end of 2023 and will be open to public consultation until May 14. The second application will follow later this spring.
At the same time as installing FRMCS, SBB is also working with mobile phone operators to improve the quality and speed of phone signals for passengers.
The antennas required for railway mobile radio specifically cover the railway corridor and not the entire surrounding area like conventional, commercial mobile radio antennas, so SBB will test whether passenger communications can be enhanced at the same time as FRMCS is installed. If so, it could be rolled out on other lines in future as FRMCS is expanded across the SBB network.
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