Czech Railways: Better internet on trains
Czech Railways boost on-board internet as first-generation Wi-Fi router replacement starts
www.technikaatrh.cz
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Passengers on long-distance trains and se-
lected Prague Integrated Transport servi-
ces can look forward to improved opera-
tion of on-board Wi-Fi networks. Czech
Railways and its subsidiary ČD-Telematika
have concluded a contract for the repla-
cement of the oldest routers with new,
more powerful technology. It will concern
146 passenger carriages and all Railjet
sets.
"High-quality internet connectivity is
one of the services that is most requested
by our customers and public transport cli-
ents. The train can then be used as a mo-
bile office, to surf social networks, and to
handle emails and other messages. We
introduced Wi-Fi on trains a long time
ago, so the original technology is already
obsolete in many ways. That is why we ha-
ve decided to replace it with advanced,
powerful devices to boost Wi-Fi and inter-
net connectivity, especially on long-di-
stance trains. The new technology will
also work with the support of 5G net-
works, which guarantees a truly significant
increase in quality," says Michal Krapinec,
Chair and CEO of Czech Railways.
The new Wi-Fi routers installed on the
trains will use all available data frequenci-
es from 700 to 2600 MHz and all availab-
le networks, i.e. the so-called "bonding".
This means that the onboard Wi-Fi will al-
ways communicate with whichever provi-
der's base station can offer the best mobi-
le data signal at any particular point. The
technology will also be able to use 5G
networks. In addition to the Czech Re-
public, the Wi-Fi will also be ready to ope-
rate in Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and
Germany.
"We appreciate the opportunity to parti-
cipate in improving the Wi-Fi functionality
on Czech Railways trains. The newly in-
stalled devices support next-generation
networks and will be able to keep up for a
long time. For example, the new routers'
maximum connection speeds of up to 5.5
Gbps greatly exceed the current capabili-
ties of the terrestrial infrastructure, posing
no foreseeable obsolescence risk for the
routers. The internet will be distributed to
passengers using both the 2.4 and 5 GHz
frequencies over the Wi-Fi 5 standard with
a potential future upgrade to Wi-Fi 6,"
says Jan Hobza, Chair of the Board of ČD-
Telematika.
The Wi-Fi technology will be replaced
on a total of 195 vehicles, of which 131
are fast train carriages, three are control
trailers, and 12 double-decker carriages of
the Prague Integrated Transport system,
as well as 49 carriages in seven Railjet
sets. The fast train carriages include the
Apee, Bdmpee, Ampz, Bhmpz, Bdmpz,
and Bmz241 and 245 series. These mo-
dern and comfortable carriages for maxi-
mum speeds of 160 or 200 km/h are ma-
inly deployed by Czech Railways on the
EuroCity and InterCity Berliner, Metropo-
litan, Southern Express, Western Express,
and Bavarian Express trains and for the Be-
rounka and Slovácký Express fast trains.
The complete renewal of the Wi-Fi tech-
nology, including the removal of the old
equipment, installation of the new devi-
ces, preparation of the renewal documen-
tation, approval of changes, and person-
nel training, will be performed by the
subsidiary company ČD-Telematika,
which will then provide comprehensive
maintenance for 60 months. p
www.ceskedrahy.cz
rail transport
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Czech Railways to Boost the
Internet on Trains as First-Generation
Router Replacement Commences
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