In May 2025, Kontron Transportation successfully migrated the existing GSM R network base stations on the line section between Votice and České Budějovice from TDM (Time-Division Multiplex) technology to pure IP communication.
This is the interface between the GSM-R base station, designated BTS-R, and the BSC base station controller located in the central part of the system. On the line section between Votice and České Budějovice, some vehicles are already using the ETCS L2 (level 2) signalling system.
The switchover of this modern railway technology was successful and the railway infrastructure of Správa železnic has thus reached the current technological peak. In total, 23 base stations were migrated.
From the point of view of communication between base stations, this is the first important step towards the future extension of the GSM-R system with the FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) standard, for which technical specifications are currently being prepared.
