On the Evolution of Railway Communications

The Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) is a global standard, successor of the current GSM-R for the European Train Control System (ETCS). FRMCS is based on the 5G framework both at the radio access network and the core network. It defines a new architecture to support all the services required for a full digitalization of the railway systems operation. This talk will provide a brief history and current status of FRMCS standardization and trial works, and provide insights on the next challenges and evolutions that could be supported by the current research activities in vehicular communications.