A Preparedness Index for Cross-Border Railway Logistics Corridors: Integrating Situational Awareness, Cybersecurity, and Communication Redundancy

Aldona Jarašūnienė; Marius Gelžinis; Darius Bazaras

doi:10.7250/bjrbe.2026-21.684

A Preparedness Index for Cross-Border Railway Logistics Corridors: Integrating Situational Awareness, Cybersecurity, and Communication Redundancy

Authors

Aldona Jarašūnienė Department of Logistics and Transport Management, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius, Lithuania https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9804-0064
Marius Gelžinis Department of Logistics and Transport Management, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius, Lithuania https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4786-9297
Darius Bazaras Department of Logistics and Transport Management, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius, Lithuania https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0603-7678

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7250/bjrbe.2026-21.684

Keywords:

AWACS, cross-border corridor, digital security, hardware security modules, interoperability, macOS, rail system, resilience, Starlink

Abstract

Technologically advanced defence infrastructure and railway information systems are achieving high levels of interoperability by creating a converged architecture that integrates airborne surveillance platforms, command-and-control networking principles, endpoint cybersecurity, and satellite communications. This paper proposes a consolidated approach that combines situational awareness principles (AWACS), a redundant satellite communications channel (Starlink) for telemetry and traffic coordination, and the implementation of proven security practices used in macOS (Secure Enclave, System Integrity Protection, Sandboxing, Gatekeeper, XProtect, Transparency, Consent & Control) in the landscape of railway information systems (SCADA, ERTMS, FRMCS). The methodological basis was modelling and simulation in MATLAB (System Composer, Requirements Toolbox), with control over the fulfilment of requirements for the EN 50126/50128/50129 standards and fault-tolerance assessment through scenarios of communication failures and cyber-attacks. The efficiency assessment is based on the KPIs of availability, delay, packet loss, fault tolerance, and recovery time, as well as the interoperability criteria enshrined in TAF/TAP TSI, RINF, and eFTI. The results suggest that architectures with multi-layered monitoring and a strict trust policy for software components enhance the resilience and manageability of corridors against communication failures and targeted cyber-attacks.

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