The first incident happened on Monday at 5:30. Two passenger cars stopped for about four minutes. In Gomunice, someone illegally gained access to a radio frequency – says. Another radio-stop signal was received at 5:52 in the Łódź-Kaliska signal box, but then the trains were not stopped. ABW and the Office of Electronic Communications have already been notified of both of these events.
Radio-stop and train stop. Railways use outdated technology
A similar incident occurred on Sunday, August 27. The police in Bialystok detained two men suspected of using amateur radio equipment to block train traffic in the Podlaskie region. The signal was broadcast three times in total and was supposed to stop nine trains.
Radio-stop technology is used as a safety system in trains. The operation of the mechanism is based on transmitting a specific radio signal on a specific frequency. Receiving it automatically stops trains and generally affects all trains within range. The radio-stop is ultimately used in the event of a threat and leads to braking without the driver’s intervention. However, it often finds its use in the hands of pranksters as well. “Up to several hundred times a year, third parties are supposed to stop trains in Poland using radio-stop” – writes “”.
Łukasz Olejnik, a cybersecurity expert, emphasizes that hackers are not behind these incidents. “School knowledge is enough to use this medieval system. Radio-stop and stop trains” – he explains. In an article published in “”, he pointed out that the technology is used without any authentication, ie there is no guarantee that the signal was sent legally and in a legitimate way. “It is not recommended to implement GSM-R in new systems in 2023. And that’s what PKP is doing” – he writes on Twitter.
that Poland “is stuck in the realities of the last century”. – If we want to travel between the capital and other cities in an hour or an hour and a half, we need to build new railway lines and increase the speed. An integral part of this change is also the digitization of train traffic control – he explained. He added that an additional problem is the lack of staff to replace experienced railwaymen. This creates additional pressure for automation.
Source: Gazeta
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