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Northern Trains Emerge from Refurbishment with Icomera Platforms

(24 Jan 2019, BWCS Staff)

The spread of WiFi across the UK rail network continues apace with today’s announcement from Icomera that it is has partnered with Northern to launch the train operator’s first fully-refurbished digital train. According to figures from BWCS’ Internet4Trains database, the current level of penetration of WiFi in the UK rail market stands at 65.4% (end 2018), but this is expected to grow rapidly over the coming two years.

The Northern Franchise Rail network is one of the most extensive in Britain and is one of two serving the north of England. It provides inter-urban, commuter and local services across the whole of northern England while the TransPennine Express franchise primarily provides inter-urban services between the major cities. Several other franchised and open access operators also provide services which enter or cross the region.

Since 2016 the Northern Franchise has been operated by Arriva Rail North Limited which is part of the Arriva group, in turn part of German rail giant Deutsche Bahn. 

Icomera reports that it is providing the core connectivity platform to Northern, though it is working with other suppliers. The platform provides on-board connectivity from which a full suite of business-critical operational and security services are hosted, as well as delivering customer WiFi to the vehicles.

Northern Rail has also announced it will use Nomad's train-to-shore data connectivity solutions, to provide vehicle tracking capabilities to their Class 156 fleet. A pilot project on the Middlesbrough to Whitby line will be run with the aim of ensuring better real-time passenger information. The line is a typical rural route, where limited train describer capability often means the exact train location is unknown and as such, accurate passenger information is difficult to provide.

The Icomera platform roll-out has already begun, with full installation of Northern’s 243 refurbished trains expected to be complete by 2020. The vehicles will operate throughout the Northern network, connecting regional hubs including Carlisle, Chester, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Hull and Newcastle. With Icomera taking charge of the initial system design and configuration, through to the commissioning process, and providing both remote and onsite ongoing support.

The system will incorporate Icomera’s X6i multi-radio and applications router, the platform provides connectivity for CCTV, passenger counting, seat reservation indicators, media displays and energy metering. As part of the project, the UK/Swedish supplier has also supplied a secure wireless bridging solution, enabling the onboard network to be extended when trains are coupled together. Working in collaboration with Northern’s team of designers it says that the train operator will ensure that the installation position on each different fleet of trains will continue to support this wireless bridging in the future.

BWCS is constantly monitoring developments in the WiFi on Trains sector within each national market. For more information about how to access our international database of interviews and market developments, please contact Ross.Parsons@BWCS.com  

On-board WiFi, trackside networks, the growing market for passenger WiFi services and on-board entertainment will be the main subjects of BWCS’s WiFi on Trains Conference 2019 on the 4th and 5th of June.

For more information on the conference please see www.Traincomms2019.com or contact Ross.Parsons@BWCS.com .

The 2019 conference (www.Traincomms2019.com ) is sponsored by Icomera, Nomad Digital, Fluidmesh, RADWIN and BAI Communications.

 

 



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