Chinese company Huawei, together with railway integrator CASCO, have announced the launch of the first TACN (Train Autonomous Control Network) system based on the European FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) standard, designed for train control and railway communications. The announcement was made at MWC Barcelona 2026, at the Huawei summit dedicated to digital transformation in industry. According to the companies, the system has already been implemented on a railway line in Africa, where it has reportedly contributed to an increase in transport capacity of approximately 60%. New generation railway communications FRMCS is the railway communications system that will gradually replace GSM-R, the standard currently used on most European railway networks. The new TACN solution uses high-speed wireless communications and multi-source fusion location technologies, including satellite positioning, to enable advanced features such as moving block and automatic train integrity monitoring. According to Huawei and CASCO, the system allows the interval between trains to be reduced to less than three minutes, which could increase the capacity of railway lines. Pilot project on an African railway The companies say the solution has already been implemented on a freight railway in Africa, where annual transport is said to have reached approximately 100 million tons. At the line’s inauguration in November 2025, officials estimated that capacity could increase in the future to 120 million tons annually, with the possibility of expansion to 200 million tons. Competition in the FRMCS market Next-generation railway communication systems represent a strategic market for the railway industry, as European networks prepare to transition from GSM-R to FRMCS. Currently, new generation railway communication technologies based on FRMCS are being developed by several companies in the industry, including Nokia, Ericsson, and Kontron, which are involved in various projects and pilo
