Huawei and CASCO launch the first FRMCS-based TACN train system, delivering moving block operations and increasing rail transport capacity by 60% on deployed freight corridors.
During MWC Barcelona 2026, at the Huawei Industry Digital Transformation Summit, the world’s first new train system based on FRMCS, TACN, was officially launched. The system utilises the FRMCS system provided by Huawei, and the TACN system provided by CASCO, a leading Chinese rail transit integrator. It has already been implemented by a railway customer in Africa, achieving a 60% increase in transport capacity.
Global railway development is currently facing three major challenges: low transportation efficiency, soaring upgrade costs, and increasingly complex safety issues. Conventional railway systems result in long train tracking intervals, limiting increases to line capacity. Railway system upgrades rely on a vast array of trackside equipment, resulting in heavy investment, lengthy reconstruction, and complex O&M. And insufficient bandwidth for train-to-ground communications prevents real-time fault detection, failing to comply with safety standards.
Huawei will match the right technology to the right scenario, creating more smart railway and urban rail solutions that accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of railways worldwide.”
Huawei and Casco have released the FRMCS-based TACN Solution. TACN incorporates cutting-edge technologies, including precise multi-source fusion location (involving satellite positioning), multimodal wireless communications, and autonomous train integrity monitoring, to enable advanced functionalities such as moving block, it can be used for both conventional and freight railways. For the railway in Africa, the deployment of TACN has already helped achieve an annual transport capacity of 100 million tons. At the railway’s commissioning ceremony, held on November 11, 2025, officials projected an initial capacity of 120 million tons per year, can be increased to 200 million tons per year in the future.
Dr. Wang Xiaoyong, Vice President of CASCO, stated, “The TACN system, with its unique advantages of ‘high integration, reduced trackside infrastructure, and broad compatibility,’ provides a safe, efficient, and cost-effective moving block solution for new freight railways and capacity expansion of existing railways around the world.”
The FRMCS network offer high bandwidth, low latency, and high reliability. It enables the system to deliver Movement Authority instantly via FRMCS-powered train-to-ground communications, transforming train tracking. This innovation shortens train headways to under 3 minutes and increases line capacity by 60%. The primary/backup function in intra-frequency dual-network redundancy networking delivers 99.999% reliability. With 20 Mbps of bandwidth, the solution supports the predictive O&M of railway systems, enhancing both train safety and punctuality. The wireless communications design also simplifies facilities, cutting both initial construction investment and ongoing maintenance costs. Looking ahead, the FRMCS network will provide the foundation for advanced intelligent solutions, such as locomotive synchronisation, perimeter protection, and beyond visual line of sight train operations.
Raymond Zuo, President of Huawei’s Smart Rail BU, noted that by prioritising customer benefits and fostering win-win ecosystems, the BU works closely with industry partners to dive into high-value scenarios and deliver the optimal solutions. This collaboration drives the digital and intelligent transformation of rail transportation. They focus on integrating industry needs with technological innovation to establish a new model for sustainable smart railway development.
Huawei and Casco’s TACN enables global railway customers to achieve significant capacity gains, cost savings, and safety improvements with optimised investments, driving high-quality, sustainable development across the railway industry. The FRMCS-based TACN solution has been successfully deployed. Moving forward, Huawei remains committed to its vision of “driving mobility and logistics into the intelligent world.” Guided by its “platform + ecosystem” strategy, Huawei will match the right technology to the right scenario, creating more smart railway and urban rail solutions that accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of railways worldwide.
