by Webbing Team
Like other transportation verticals, such as maritime and aviation, the railway industry is adopting cellular technology, albeit relatively slower, primarily due to the sector’s emphasis on safety and its reliance on legacy infrastructure.
The implementation of cellular technology in the railway sector began in the 1990s with GSM-R, a specialized version of GSM developed to create a pan-European interoperable railway communication system. It was based on 2G GSM technology and enabled voice and data communication between trains, stations, and control centers at speeds up to 350 km/h.
GSM-R was mandated by the EU in 1997 and has been successfully deployed and used around the world since then, but it is no longer capable of meeting the bandwidth and latency demands of modern rail operations. The International Union of Railways (UIC) began developing the next-generation communication system called the FRMCS which is based on 5G technology, effectively skipping two generations of cellular technology. In parallel, LTE-R, a 4G-based alternative, developed primarily in South Korea, emerged as a national initiative to modernize railway communication systems.
Although a full-scale transition from GSM-R to FRMCS implementations is not expected until the late 2020s, FRMCS-ready 5G networks are also starting to be adopted to support operational and safety-related applications. SNS Telecom & IT’s “Private 5G/4G Cellular Networks for Railways: 2024 – 2030” report predicts that global spending on private 5G and 4G LTE network infrastructure in the railways sector will grow at a CAGR of 23% over the next three years, amounting for more than $1.2 Billion between 2024 and 2027.
Let’s take a closer look at the use cases that illustrate how railway operators around the world are benefitting from cellular networks:
Enabling Safe, Real-Time Rail Operations with Cellular Networks
Cellular connectivity enables a wide range of use cases that rely on real-time communications for railway operations. Train control systems use cellular networks to link trains with control centers to exchange security messages and ensure that trains are constantly monitored and operate at safe intervals between each other. Typically, railway operators don’t use public networks for these systems, as they require guaranteed latency and prioritized bandwidth.
In some use cases, cellular networks support autonomous train operations. This year, the Czech Republic has started testing an autonomous railbus on a 5G-enabled route. The vehicle, a retrofitted 810-series unit from the 1970s, is equipped with a GoA4-rated automatic driving system, the highest level of railway automation. Using 5G’s low latency and high bandwidth, the train communicates in real time with trackside sensors and control infrastructure, enabling safe remote operation and real-time decision-making. To support the deployment, AŽD Praha purchased the rail line and upgraded it with advanced signaling systems and infrastructure, creating a fully autonomous-ready route end-to-end.
Along with train control systems, there are many connected devices used for operations in rail yards, such as yard air controllers that perform and document essential brake tests before train dispatch. These devices connect via cellular networks to wirelessly transmit test results and monitoring information to a central database. Depending on the location and setting, they may operate over public or private networks.
Cellular Networks Power Smarter Rail Maintenance and Monitoring
In both freight and passenger railway operations, cellular connectivity is widely used for transmitting telematics data from rolling stock. Information on braking systems, engines, wheel bearings, door status, HVAC and other onboard systems is gathered from locomotives and railcars to support multiple functions.
One of the key applications is maintenance, particularly predictive maintenance. Instead of dispatching technicians to each locomotive to manually download the data, cellular connectivity allows to automate the process and reduce the time required from hours to minutes. By analyzing this real-time data, railway operators can anticipate failures before they occur and schedule maintenance based on actual wear instead of fixed intervals. This is especially valuable for freight rolling stock traveling over long and remote routes, but can also be important for passenger systems that need high reliability.
Along with the rolling stock maintenance, cellular networks are used for infrastructure asset monitoring. Track conditions, wayside equipment, bridges, tunnels, power systems, weather stations etc., are checked for faults and safety. The data is collected either via fixed cellular-connected sensors or with the help of mobile data collection platforms that use cellular connectivity to upload it to cloud systems for processing and diagnostics.
Connected Fleets, Smarter Railways
Cellular connectivity plays a vital role in railway fleet management by enabling real-time tracking and operational visibility. GPS devices on locomotives and railcars use cellular networks to transmit live location data, which helps operators estimate arrival times and manage delays or routing issues. With this data, fleet managers gain insights into asset utilization, knowing which railcars are active, idle, or under maintenance, so they can optimize routing and scheduling.
Connected Security for Critical Rail Assets
The problem of vandalism and theft remains a serious concern for railway infrastructure. For example, in May 2025, signaling cables were stolen from four locations between Madrid and Seville, causing severe delays to high-speed services that affected more than 10,000 travelers. According to Spanish interior ministry statistics, there were 4,433 thefts involving copper and conductive materials in the country last year.
To help prevent and respond to such incidents, railway operators are increasingly deploying cellular-connected cameras and sensors in rail yards and stations. These systems can be deployed without the need for complex wired infrastructure, which makes it easier to monitor large or remote areas. Aside from fixed cameras, for years, railway operators have been using drones to monitor infrastructure and inspect operations involving repair, construction or maintenance. In these applications, cellular connectivity is critical not only for transmitting the video feed but also for the drones’ command and control functionality.
Onboard Connectivity: Linking Trains to the Outside World
To connect a train to the outside world, most modern systems use cellular networks. Antennas mounted on the roof of the train cars pick up signals from public cellular towers along the rail corridor. These antennas are often part of a multi-modem router system that can aggregate multiple SIMs across different cellular providers to improve coverage and bandwidth. In more advanced setups, operators might use private LTE or 5G networks if available along the route, especially in closed or high-security networks.
Connectivity Requirements for Railways
Railway use cases can be very demanding, especially in mission-critical communications. For many of these usage scenarios, railway operators built dedicated infrastructure along the railway lines, such as base stations for GSM-R or FRMCS, or deployed private networks. However, many other applications rely on public networks, and although each of these scenarios may have unique requirements in terms of connectivity, there are several common needs:
Latency
Virtually all use cases in the railway sector require low latency. The most critical applications, such as train control, signaling or emergency calls, usually rely on dedicated networks, where latency and bandwidth can be managed. Other use cases, including video surveillance and condition-based maintenance, often leverage public networks. While technically cellular networks, 5G in particular, can deliver latency as low as 1 ms, actual performance would depend on the architecture of the connectivity provider’s core network.
Webbing is a full MVNO, owning their core network, which is a fully redundant, distributed network with data centers on every continent. It features local breakouts and a variety of network solutions to support high-performance connectivity. Last year, Webbing further enhanced its global network by adding new data centers in Japan, Singapore, and Australia. This infrastructure allows to guarantee high data throughput and low latency to all connected devices. As such, Webbing’s network is well suited to support mission-critical, high-data consumption type of use cases. The network fully supports all cellular technologies including 4G and 5G.
Coverage
Trains often travel through remote or rural areas where commercial cellular infrastructure may be sparse. Even in well-covered regions, each mobile network can have weak spots. Also, trains may cross international borders, so it is important that they can connect to multiple networks.
Webbing guarantees coverage in over 190 countries and territories through partnerships with more than 600 mobile operators. Webbing’s solutions support connectivity across multiple networks in any location, minimizing the risk of downtime due to network outages or poor coverage. Additionally, Webbing’s eSIM solution ensures failover connectivity with the capability of using multiple mobile carrier profiles and an option to fall back from a failing profile to a different profile without any need to communicate with a remote server or deal with multiple SIM cards.
Mobility and Seamless Connectivity
Trains move at high speeds, up to 500 km/h in some cases, so maintaining a stable connection while switching between base stations or networks can be challenging. While this may not be a problem for applications operating only on dedicated infrastructure such as GSM-R or private networks, it becomes critical for any use case that implies connecting to public networks or switching between public and private networks.
With Webbing’s connectivity solutions, a single SIM can provide seamless multi-network access within a region, ensuring uninterrupted operation even in remote locations. This ensures consistent connectivity even in remote areas or during network transitions, at any speed.
Compliance with Regulations
Railway systems are high-stakes critical infrastructure vulnerable to cyberattacks. As such, they need to meet industry-specific standards such as EN 50159. Additionally, each country or region has its own laws and rules regarding wireless communication and data privacy. Many countries have laws that restrict data from being transferred outside their borders, known as data sovereignty laws. Varying regulations affect how data is collected, stored, and shared, making compliance challenging for companies with cross-border operations.
Webbing’s solutions help to comply with all kinds of regulatory requirements, be it preventing traffic from leaving the country’s borders, using local IMSI or full localization. Technology- and infrastructure-wise, Webbing is capable of forming any architecture required by local legislation. Our eSIM solution allows for remote provisioning and a swap between profiles, easily turning it into any operator’s SIM.
Webbing: Seamless, Secure, and Cost-Optimized Connectivity for Railways
Webbing offers a connectivity solution that ensures global access to reliable and high-quality internet, with low latency and the best of class coverage. It provides secure and continuous internet connection for all types of devices used by fleet operators, wherever and whenever they need it.
Webbing’s partner network of over 600 mobile operators worldwide guarantees global coverage. It allows roaming on several carriers’ network in every region, solving the problem of weak spots that any mobile network may have and ensuring full coverage and continuous connectivity even at remote locations.
Webbing is a global connectivity provider with a distributed full core network with local breakouts, multiple network solution, and data server redundancy that provides connectivity stability and low latency. As such, Webbing’s network allows for realization of most complex scenarios with different types of devices, high-data consumption and industry-specific requirements.
Our eSIM solution guarantees failover connectivity with the capability of using multiple mobile carrier profiles, easily changing carriers at any time with zero integration, and an option to fall back from a failing profile to a different profile without any need to communicate with a remote server or deal with multiple SIM cards. It helps global enterprises that need access to several private and public networks, like railway operators or rolling stock fleet owners, to ensure continuous data connectivity for their devices. Easily set business rules help determine automatic profile allocation based on location and enable fallback mechanisms in case of private network failure or coverage issues.
A flexible approach to data packages allows us to tailor our connectivity offering for every customer based on the type of connected devices and their data consumption needs as well as the locations where the devices are used, aiming at overall optimization of the total cost of operations for the client.
Our solutions help railway operators overcome their connectivity challenges and optimize costs for global deployments, providing the benefits of roaming with multiple carrier options in every country, and seamless transition between carriers, public and private networks, while maintaining low rates and low latency on a global scale with a single SIM.
Reach out to learn more about Webbing’s customized connectivity solutions for railway operators.
