The UK’s Evo-rail has developed a solution to resolve the (poor) reputation train WiFi has earned across Europe. According to Railway Technology, the company has invented rail 5G, the first multi-gigabit internet solution built specifically for the railway industry.
Simon Holmes, Evo-rail CEO, said the company has been developing the mmWave technology in conjunction with The University of Bristol for the past five years. Professor Andrew Nix, the inventor of the technology, decided to send “pencil beams to the train” to provide WiFi. According to Holmes, the solution came about because the train industry spends tens of millions on mobile data for a service customers “generally dislike.”
The results of a new online poll commissioned by Evo-rail showed that 64 percent of European respondents aged 16-34 would be more likely to consider taking the train over other modes of transportation if onboard WiFi was fast and reliable. Evo-rail’s 5G solution can provide passengers with constant, uninterrupted internet access, 50 times faster than the current average speed, reported Railway Technology,
Holmes explained that rail 5G is transmitted to the train from antennas on poles (lampposts and solar-powered options) that run along the tracks, spaced between a quarter-mile to one-and-a-quarter miles apart. Fenders on the front and rear of the train simultaneously receive the ultra-high bandwidth via the pencil beams. Antennas along the track allow for continuous coverage and require a single fiber and 40 watts of power each to operate. Evo-rail has been running tests since 2017, and built the solution on the Isle of Wight for South Western Rail.
Evo-rail’s goal is to “delight customers” with high-speed WiFi, and the 5G rail solution allows train operators to “unrestrict” the amount of bandwidth passengers can use. Railway Technology reported that passengers could also save on mobile data since they can tap into 5G rail on the train.
Holmes commented that mobile operators found implementing WiFi on railways cost-prohibitive as the tech was not created for trains. He added, “With our solution, it has been deliberately made to work for rail.”
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