The UIC ERIG meeting #82 took place from 28 to 29 June 2022, in Paris, at the UIC HQ.

ERIG is a group of managers responsible for the railway telecom systems, with representatives across all of the major railway companies in Europe. The group was founded due to the introduction of GSM-R and held its first meeting on 1 December 1998.

The group oversees the UIC GSM-R and FRMCS activities, and also ensures that experiences are shared.

This ERIG meeting was particularly important, for the following reasons:

• FRMCS specifications are being finalized for inclusion in the 2022 CCS TSI.
  ERIG discussed the status of this work. FRMCS itself is also being considered for inclusion within the CCS TSI body text, whilst the FRMCS specifications (FRMCS FRS, FRMCS SRS (including ‘On-Board’), FRMCS TOBA FRS, FRMCS FIS and FRMCS FFFIS) will be considered for the CCS TSI Annex A.

• Moreover, ERIG has discussed strategies for introducing FRMCS, with the aim that a 1st Edition FRMCS will be available for use on railways within the second half of 2025. The critical element for readiness is 5G, with the 17 and 18 3GPP releases. The global plan is progressing well, having had a number of achievements such as additional frequencies for FRMCS being obtained, the architecture for ETCS and voice migrations being agreed upon, and the 5Grail project delivering their first lab-based industrial prototypes, which will soon appear in the field. However, there is still work to be done, with a critical step being the organization of a European trial for cross-border conditions to validate the FRMCS Version 3 specifications and associated product ecosystem, which are vital for continued progress.

The current ERIG Chairman, Robert Sarfati, has announced his retirement from the role. Jean-Michel Evanghelou, the UIC Head of Telecom, Signaling & Digital Applications, has thanked Mr. Sarfati for his impressive involvement in both UIC’s GSM-R and now FRMCS activities.

Jean-Michel Evanghelou was unanimously appointed for succession to the post of ERIG Chairman by ERIG.

The next ERIG meeting will take place on the 29 to30 November 2022.