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Swiss Put WiFi on International (but not Internal) Trains
(05 Jul 2016, BWCS Staff)Swiss Train Operator, SBB, has confirmed that it will offer WiFi services on board two major inter-city routes into Italy. The move comes in spite of a previous decision by the company not to install on-tran WiFi on its domestic fleet.
The WiFi equipment will be installed in the new Giruno trains linking Zurich, and nearby cities, to Italy via the new Gotthard Base Tunnel. SBB says it will also bow to public pressure and put WiFi on the former Cisalpino trains which run between Geneva and Italy via the Simplon Pass in Valais. The Giruno trains, to be supplied by Stadler Railo, are still under construction.
According to the Swiss train company the level of mobile coverage within Switzerland means that there is no need to offer WiFi on domestic routes. Instead passengers can use their own mobile devices to connect from the 1,000 or so carriages where SBB has installed mobile signal amplifiers. However, the company argues that on its international services, mobile coverage (outside Switzerland) is “patchier” and also much more costly for Swiss passengers, so it has relented on its WiFi plans.
The Giruno trains which will run through the newly completed 57km-long Gotthard Base rail tunnel, will take advantage of the underground coverage supplied by all the Swiss mobile operators. According to SBB, this means that uninterrupted calls can be made despite passenger trains travelling under the Alps for around 20 minutes at speeds of up to 200 kmph.
Details of the technology to be used have not yet been clarified said Stephan Wehrle, spokesperson for Swiss Rail when speaking to ATS. According to him, the Deutsche Bahn ICE, Austrian Railjet and French TGV Lyria services already offer similar WiFi, adding “But the connection sometimes gets cut.”
The problem of how to improve trackside coverage was one of the main topics addressed at the recent WiFi on Trains Conference hosted by BWCS in London. There were several new announcements made during the Conference, all of which can be found at www.Traincomms2016.com . For more information about next year’s Conference, including speaking and sponsoring opportunities, please contact Ross.Parsons@BWCS.com .
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