The Point: Deutsche Bahn’s outdated GSM-R radio network is structurally vulnerable and requires accelerated migration to the 5G standard FRMCS to mitigate outage risks for critical infrastructure.
Following the nationwide failure of railway radio GSM-R, the VDE has called on Deutsche Bahn to rapidly modernize. The outdated radio technology is to be replaced by the 5G-based standard FRMCS to prevent future nationwide outage scenarios.
The Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technology (VDE) sees a structural vulnerability problem in the failure of Deutsche Bahn’s GSM-R radio network. The system on which train control and safety technology relies is classified by experts as technologically outdated and cannot reliably fail over when network errors occur.
For CISOs, this incident represents a critical infrastructure reality: systems that functioned reliably for decades suddenly become single points of failure for national services. GSM-R networks pose significant security and availability risks due to their age and limited maintenance support. A network failure can immediately lead to operational shutdowns in rail traffic.
The transition to FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) – a standard based on modern 5G technologies – is intended to provide redundancy, security updates, and fault tolerance. The VDE’s demand aims to accelerate this migration rather than execute it gradually.
Relevant for infrastructure security: such modernization requires parallel operational capability, thorough security certifications, and network segmentation during the transition phase. Insufficiently planned migrations can introduce new vulnerabilities if legacy systems and new infrastructure coexist.
Source: www.golem.de · Published June 29, 2026
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