Kapsch CarrierCom and MVM OVIT Zrt. equipped the Hungarian railway network with the GSM-R technology

VIENNA/BUDAPEST, 19-Dec-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — The network stability tests of the first section of the GSM-R network installed for Hungarian State Railways and GYSEV Zrt. have been closed successfully. The implementation of the state-of-the-art GSM-R technology increases the operability of the rail corridor in Hungary, which is one of the most important in Europe. Dr. László Felkai, State Secretary at the Ministry of Interior in Hungary, Mr. András Vidra, Director of ICT and technologies of MÁV, and Dr. Kari Kapsch, CEO of Kapsch CarrierCom presented the details of stage five of the GSM-R project at a press briefing on December 18, at the Network Operations Center (NOC) of the Hungarian State Railways in Budapest.

Kapsch CarrierCom and the Hungarian infrastructure expert MVM OVIT Zrt. (Országos Villamostávvezeték), equipped the Hungarian railway network with the Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R) technology. The system includes a geo-redundant, state-of-the-art Release 4 core network and an access network with the newest, railway-specific base station subsystem, covering 900 track kilometers of which 300 km have been handed over to the Hungarian railways and Győr-Sopron-Ebenfurti Vasút Zrt. (GYSEV Zrt.) today. The project for the Hungarian state holding company NISZ Zrt. (Nemezeti Inforkommunikációs Szolgáltató) started in 2013 and amounts to a total volume of roughly 46 million Euro. “With the successful installation of GSM-R technology and today’s handover of around 300 km of the network, we not only finished phase five, but also achieved a very important milestone of this complex project”, explains Kari Kapsch. The network is also certified to support ETCS Level 2 traffic.

Hungary: A rail corridor of high importance for Europe

The implementation of the GSM-R technology in Hungary is of great significance since three of the most important pan-European rail corridors run through the country. The interoperability of the safety systems is therefore of the highest priority for a smooth operability of international railway transportation.

László Felkai: “We are happy, that this important step of the project is finished. It’s a great optimization of the Hungarian rail network as well as of the trans-European rail traffic.”

Implementation of newest EU-standards

The project has been completed in compliance with the standards defined by the European Commission as part of European Rail Traffic Management Systems (ERTMS). One core intent of ERTMS is the transition from individual national solutions to a uniform train radio system throughout Europe to reduce costs and increase safety. The system consists of two main elements: a uniform signaling system (ETCS L2, European Train Control System Level 2) and the GSM-R radio technology. The addendum of ERTMS published in 2016, which requires new Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) for the Control-Command and Signaling Subsystem (CCS), has already been implemented too. “Changes in the EU-regulatory were met by several profound adaptions on the side of Kapsch, although the project was in its full swift. By doing so, we made sure to deliver the newest solutions possible. Thus, Hungary is one of the first markets to have implemented the 2016 version of the ERTMS”, says Kari Kapsch.