Study on feasibility of SATCOM for railway communication

Final Report
RATIONALE
Costs are a key decision driver for the selection of a new communication system. Despite costs
not being the key driver for such a system, it should not have a worse costs performance than the
existing GSM-R system.
At decision level, only preliminary cost benefit estimates may be available. When performed
through acceptable best practices and approved by authorized stakeholders and experts, these
estimates should clearly point out at an economic internal rate of return (IRR or more accurately
ERR) superior to the minimum acceptable rate of return (MARR) required for public investments in
Europe. Although it is not immediate that the required investments will fall upon public entities, and
despite there is no universally accepted MARR level across Europe, a conservative average of
national standard values can be regarded as a balanced and appropriate benchmark for cost
benefit assessments. MARR values for public investments in EU Member States typically range
from 3% to 4% for long-time members, and my occasionally climb to 7% for recent members. An
up-to-date average should be computed and suitably justified with adequate referencing for actual
decision-making.
CRITERION TRACEABILITY
Survey on operational communications (study for the evolution of the railway communications
system), Ref: 37760-496v04 [RD-17]
<strong>Study</strong> on migration of railway radio communication system from GSM-R to other solutions, Ref
ERA_RS1_DLV_023 [RD-18]
Guide to Cost Benefit Analysis of Investment Projects, DG Regional Policy, July 2014 [RD-19]
CRT-NONT-6 Standards shall be used to the extent possible to ensure interoperability of the
proposed SATCOM system for the future railway communications architecture with
communication systems (satellite, terrestrial and possible gap fillers). Additionally, the mandatory
standards listed in this table shall be applied in the certification process:
EN 50126 Railway applications — The specification and demonstration of reliability,
availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)
EN 50128 Railway applications — Communication, signalling and processing systems —
Software for railway control and protection systems
EN 50129 Railway applications — Communication, signalling and processing systems —
Safety related electronic systems for signalling
EN 50159 Railway applications — Communication, signalling and processing systems —
Safety-related communication in transmission systems
RATIONALE
The use of open standards ensures interoperability and reduces costs. Additionally, future
systems should undergo certification processes to ensure at least mandatory standards are
complied with. While specific novel technological solutions may escape the scope of current or
short-term standards, the ability to attain certification will continue to be the cornerstone for entry
into operational service. For this reason, standardization and applicable regulation for any
candidate solution should have at least reached initial draft stage by an active Working Group
within a competent organization.
CRITERION TRACEABILITY
Doc.Nº: SRAIL-FNR-010-IND
Edit./Rev.: 1/1
Date: 16/02/2017
Page 203 of 285