Delayed rail wireless links get back on timetable

Network Rail will start testing the delayed GSM-Railway (GSM-R) radio communication system in March next year.

GSM-R, which will provide secure voice and data communication and improved links between drivers and signallers, was initially planned to be in place by 2006 and fully operational by 2008, but budget constraints pushed the deadline back to 2010 and then to 2013 (Computing, 7 April 2004).

Network Rail now says that the trial, to take place in Strathclyde, will help it to meet the revised deadline of 2013.

‘GSM-R is now running according to the new schedule,’ said Network Rail communications executive John Stevens. ‘Construction is going on across the country, and will do so until 2011.’

GSM-R will also provide the basis for the £3.7bn European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), which is to be introduced just two years later in 2015.

The continent-wide safety and interoperability system will use GSM-R to record high-speed train positions and apply braking systems if trains become too close.

The communications equipment will be fitted in cabs of First ScotRail and in freight operator EWS trains later this year. The trial will run throughout 2007.

‘We are focusing on migrating from the old system to the new, determining the dates for phasing in GSM-R,’ said Stevens.

Hassard Stackpool, spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies, says there is some concern that there are only two years between implementation of GSM-R and ERTMS.

‘Signalling projects tend to be long-term, and we want to be sure that Network Rail gets the technology right,’ he said.

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Further reading

Rail communication system delay

Cutbacks delay railway system

£3.7bn plan to replace signals