Ceské Dráhy, the Czech national train operator, has announced a major overhaul of its on-board passenger WiFi services. The company says it will replace all routers in 195 vehicles. Ceské’s telecoms subsisiary, ČD-Telematika, will undertake the upgrades.
According to the company, the new kit will use the WiFi5 standard and operate on the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz frequencies. This means that the new routers will be able to operate at a maximum connection speed of up to5.5Gbps and be easily upgradeable to WiFi6.
Ceské Dráhy currently offers free WiFi on board its Super-City and Intercity services on the Ostrava – Olomouc – Pardubice – Prague routes. It is also available on the once-daily service between Prague and Košice in Slovakia, and on CD’s international connections with Vienna and Graz in Austria. The operator has been offering on-train WiFi services since the arrival of competition in the Czech long-distance rail market in 2011.
Of the 195 coaches to be upgraded, 131 are express cars, 3 control cars and 12 are double-decker cars used by Prague Integrated Transport. It will also change the routers in 56 railjet cars.
The original on-board WiFi systems on CD’s trains were installed by Simac Technik CR. Icomera has also worked with Simac to install its portal-based system for infotainment, passenger information and catering, which runs on the Icomera X-Series platform. An on-board entertainment system is offered by Passengera.
This year’s WiFi on Trains Conference – Traincomms 2024, will take place on the 13th and 14th of November. For more information on getting involved please see www.Traincomms.com or contact Ross.Parsons@BWCS.com .
The latest programme will be available here http://traincomms.com/#content2b
Traincomms Tickets http://traincomms.com/book1.cfm
Traincomms 2024 is being sponsored by Huber+Suhner, Westermo, Boldyn Networks, Rajant and Icomera. Oxyfi, Antonics and Polomarconi will be exhibitors.