The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (JSC Ukrzaliznytsia) is implementing the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), which includes the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS).
The National Commission for State Regulation of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum, and Postal Services (NCEC) announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
The implementation of the ERTMS is required to increase the capacity of border crossings, raise the level of technical and technological development of the railway network, and integrate the railway transport complex into the European Union's transport network - the pan-European multimodal Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
"The implementation of ERTMS will create a pan-European radio communication network for passenger and freight trains, which will be able to cross national borders without the need to install another national radio communication system," said NCEC member Oleksandr Bisiuk.
The implementation of the system will improve transport safety by ensuring stable communication between trains and dispatchers, reducing signal transmission delays, and enabling real-time train traffic management, the NCEC said.
"The FRMCS is designed to meet the technological needs of Ukrzaliznytsia to ensure the functioning of train, station, repair and operational radio communications and the train traffic control system, as well as - in the future - on-board and trackside video surveillance, multimedia technological video streams (such as video feeds from train doors and railway crossings to which a train is approaching), etc.," the commission said.
The implementation of the radio communication network of the Ukrainian railway transport envisages the construction of the FRMCS network infrastructure exclusively along the railway tracks in railway stations, as well as along the railway tracks connecting such stations, the commission said.
The allocation of radio frequency bands for the implementation of FRMCS was initiated in 2024 as a result of fruitful cooperation between the NCEC, the Ukrainian State Center for Radio Frequencies, Ukrzaliznytsia, and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 1253 of 1 November 2024 allocated the frequency bands 874.4-880.0 MHz, 920.0-925.0 MHz, and 1900-1910 MHz for the use of FRMCS, NCEC officials confirmed.
The implementation of ERTMS, which consists of the European train control system and a railway radio communication system (GSM-R or FRMCS), is mandated by the European Commission Regulation 2016/919/EU on the technical specification for interoperability relating to the ‘control-command and signaling’ subsystems of the rail system in the European Union, as well as by the Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union.
