The fifth edition of the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) Plugtests, hosted by UIC and organised by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), has successfully concluded, marking a decisive milestone in the global shift to next-generation railway communications.
Bringing together over 170 participants – including technology vendors and industry observers from the railway and public safety sectors – this edition demonstrated concrete progress in the interoperability and maturity of FRMCS. FRMCS is set to progressively replace the Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R) and usher in a new era of digital, resilient, and connected railways. Attendance included 111 participants on-site and 67 remotely.
Building on the achievements of the fourth edition, which showcased the first Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 18 Ad Hoc Group Call capability, this year’s Plugtests delivered a major leap forward and included a series of world-first demonstrations and enhanced capabilities, including:
- FRMCS frequency testing (n100 and n101) – a pioneering validation of the dedicated FRMCS spectrum
- Voice multi-talker capability – enabling multiple speakers within the same group call, which is crucial for operational coordination
- Role-based voice ad-hoc group calls – where participation rights depend on mission-specific authorisations
- FRMCS multipath communication via Mission Critical Services (MCX) – leveraging MCX rather than the transport layer, enhancing reliability and performance
- Railway Emergency Call – integrating both alert and voice Ad Hoc Group Call features
- FRMCS–GSM-R interworking and white space – ensuring backward compatibility during the migration phase
- Mission Critical Migration (border-crossing simulation) – a first-time demonstration of seamless international interoperability across networks
All of the demonstrations were conducted using 5G mobile technology as the transport layer (including 5G Core and Access Networks, antennas, and terminals), proving that the technological ecosystem is ready to support mission-critical railway operations in a 5G environment.
In addition to being publicly showcased, the Plugtests facilitated hundreds of bilateral and multilateral interoperability tests among participating vendors. These tests are essential to ensuring that future FRMCS deployments meet the highest standards of safety, reliability, and cross-border compatibility.
The success of the FRMCS #5 Plugtests event underscores UIC’s commitment to fostering global collaboration and technical convergence within the railway community, in close coordination with 3GPP, ETSI, and industry partners.
As the FRMCS ecosystem continues to evolve, this edition lays a strong foundation for the next Plugtests in 2026, where the focus will further shift to real-life deployment scenarios and migration strategies for railways worldwide.
