Study on feasibility of SATCOM for railway communication

Final Report
9.3.1.2 Time Horizon
The GSM-R system is estimated to reach obsolescence by 2030. The CBA considers that the
replacement technology should be operative before 2030 and remain active at least 10 years after
GSM-R. Thus, the timeline is defined as the period 2020-2040.
9.3.1.3 Geographic Scope
The geographic scope of the analysis covers the member states of the EU28, as well as Norway and
Switzerland, in line with previous economic and business assessments addressing communications in
the European Railway sector (seen in the above section §9.3.1.1), in order to ensure full traceability
and comparability.
9.3.1.4 SATCOM Costs and Infrastructure Scope
The analysis is designed to assess the feasibility of off-the-shelf SATCOM solutions, or alternative
proposed solutions that have been assumed to be potentially deployable (as is the case of MEO C-
band).
Hence, the analysis does not take into account any space segment or ground mission
management infrastructure, as well as any other ground infrastructure supporting the
SATCOM services. These costs are treated as sunk costs, which would have been incurred
out of the scope of the CBA by the time the specific railway communications capability would
be deployed.
In contrast, the SATCOM costs and infrastructure scope take into account the railway
communications-specific infrastructure and assets to be deployed by the concerned
stakeholders in order to provide such a GSM-R-succeeding service. Such scope is explained
in more detail in section §9.3.2.1.
9.3.1.5 Stakeholders Involved
Two groups of stakeholders have been identified as the main players in the rail sector:
Railway Undertakings, responsible for the maintenance and operations of the transport
vehicles. These operators must ensure safety and service quality, naturally interested in
customer value-added services, such as Wi-Fi connection in the railway cars, as an additional
revenue stream and as a passenger engagement mechanism.
Infrastructure Managers, responsible for the maintenance and operations of the
infrastructure where the railway undertakings are performing their commercial activities. These
operators must ensure safety and quality of the infrastructures such as the rail lines, train
stations, beacons, signs, to name a few. These stakeholders are interested in the positioning,
monitoring, and safety services.
9.3.1.6 Basic Assumptions
The basic assumptions used in the analysis are the following:
Doc.Nº: SRAIL-FNR-010-IND
Edit./Rev.: 1/1
Date: 16/02/2017
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