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Independent reference on the Future Railway Mobile Communication System
FRMCS ATLAS

Knowledge · reviewed 02 Oct 2026

Architecture

Contents
  1. Two strata
  2. Other viewpoints
  3. Where to verify

Short answer

FRMCS architecture is commonly described in layers: a Transport Stratum that carries IP connectivity, and a Service Stratum that provides communication services to railway applications. Onboard/trackside and application views are different perspectives on the same system, not additional strata.

Two strata

  • Transport Stratum – the access and core network layer that provides connectivity, including radio access and IP transport [2][3].
  • Service Stratum – the communication services layer (for example voice, data and mission-critical services) consumed by railway applications [2].

Other viewpoints

Separating viewpoints prevents category mistakes in planning documents:

  • Onboard vs. trackside describes where equipment sits (train-mounted gateway and radios vs. network sites and core).
  • Railway applications describes what is being served (e.g. train control, voice communication, telemetry).
Editorial assessment: many planning discussions mix these viewpoints. Naming the viewpoint explicitly in each requirement makes vendor responses easier to compare.

Where to verify

Consult the current system architecture documents from ETSI TC RT and the UIC FRMCS pages for the authoritative definitions [1][2].

Cite this page

Architecture. FRMCS Atlas. /knowledge/architecture (last reviewed 2026-10-02). Markdown version

Related

Sources

  1. [1]FU-7100 – FRMCS User Requirements Specification — UIC, 5.0.0 (19 Feb 2020)
  2. [2]ETSI TS 103 764 — System Architecture — ETSI TC RT, v1.1.1
  3. [3]3GPP TS 22.289 – Mobile communication system for railways (ETSI TS 122 289) — 3GPP / ETSI, V19.0.1