Discussion on Integrating 5G and TETRA Applied to Railway Safety and Information Security-Related Issues

With the vision of future smart railway communication and the huge business opportunities brought by the vigorous development of 5th generation wireless systems (5G), railway transportation needs to develop innovative communication networks and key technologies to ensure the high-quality application of the operation and communication control system. 5G communication technology has high mobility, safety, and reliability as a challenging solution for rail transportation communication. Based on smart rail transportation services and communication scenarios, the introduction and planning of information security become more important. 5G networks provide secure, reliable, and cost-effective network links for a large number of IoT devices. The link between these devices needs to be ensured for the safety of railway traffic and operational efficiency. TETRA is currently the most widely used wireless communication system for newly built railway projects around the world. All tracks in Taiwan, including Taiwan Railway Administration, High-speed Rail, Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, Taichung Mass Rapid Transit, Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation, Taoyuan Mass Rapid Transit System, and Taoyuan Airport Mass Rapid Transit System use the stable and reliable TETRA system for functional applications. However, for intelligent applications such as railway safety monitoring, early warning maintenance, patrol inspection, and passenger transportation services with a high demand for train information to prevent train accidents, TETRA has technical limitations that have not been overcome. Therefore, we analyze the advantages and disadvantages of 5G and TETRA in the application of railway safety and propose a TETRA-based integration of 5G to address issues such as the risk of train operation caused by information leakage. Innovative conceptual proposals are presented based on various application aspects for railway agencies and track research units to develop intelligent rail applications cost-effectively.