Seamless WiFi for 90 train cars of Czech Railways
Since 2012 Passengera is supporting Czech Railways with the enhancement of their Passenger Digital Experience, by providing an all-in-one solution, all in respect of the renewed car designs for long-distance international connections. In 2019 we equipped additional 90 train cars.
About the client
Czech Railways have been the solid bone of national and international passenger transportation of the Czech Republic for over 100 years.
Founded in 1918 in Czechoslovakia, and the biggest local employer until 2008, Czech Railways is a strong player in the national transportation market.
Since 2012 Passengera is supporting the client with the enhancement of their Passenger Digital Experience, by providing an all-in-one solution, all in respect of the renewed car designs for long-distance international connections. In 2019 additional 90 train cars have been equipped.
The challenges of an international route
The client's requirements were to provide Wifi connectivity to 90 cars travelling on the Eurocity and Intercity routes – delivering seamless connectivity even while crossing international borders – and decreasing the expenses of the roaming.
The goal was also to deliver a solution ready to host an Information & Entertainment platform on a single hardware, and to guarantee the content of all cars can be updated and from a single point and synchronised through a cloud.
Another challenge was ensuring the solution would have the minimal impact on the design of the various types of cars (from sleeping to coupés).
Source: cd.cz
The Solution
The client's brief was approached with a carefully designed solution of an all-in-one Passengera multiservice Gateway (G7) with a Connectivity Solution, ready to host a Passenger Information and Engagement Solution, connected to a centralised Managing and Monitoring Suite.
Source: Passengera's MMS
Connectivity & Application Hosting Solution - As per client's requisite, particularly for trains that in a single route would be crossing travelling across 4 countries with 3 different SIM cards in each of them – Passengera Gateway (G7) was selected.
Passengera Gateway (G7), with integrated dual band wireless Access Point and a multiplexor that can host up to 12 sims – particularly relevant for cross-border routes, was the Solution that would guarantee Czech Railways a seamless cross-border connectivity.
To minimise the interference of the Passengera Getaways (G7) with the design of the cars, each vagon was equipped with one gateway, each of them with 3 LTE-Advanced Modems with Dual-Band and ready for integration with 5G already back in 2019. After more than two years of operation, Passengera gateways are now ready for an easy upgrade for 5G support.
Every Passenger has access to Free Wifi. Each class has a given amount of data that can be used in each country. Czech Railways team can set different policies based on roaming data prices to reduce roaming costs while maintaining the best possible user experience.
Source: cd.cz
Passenger Information and & Engagement Solution - Czech Railways has a multi licence on Passengera's modular Infotainment which allows them to easily select specific modules (services) to passengers. From connectivity with advertisement, to RTI of the route, to full multimedia version – everything is highly customisable and ready to be tailored to each route, from one single centralised system (MMS). Passengera G7 on deployed cars is prepared to host an infotainment platform available to passengers from their own devices (BYOD).
Passengera Information & Engagement platform also offers space for advertisement – giving the company the possibility to promote 3rd party business and thus create new revenue streams; as well as a simplified way to communicate to passengers important information on delays, interruptions and more.
Management & Monitoring Suite – A centrally managed system allows Czech Railways to easily manage content and automatically update it to make it fit each and every route, saving the client a valuable amount of time and resources. This feature allows the client to match different routes with different services from one single place according to their needs.
Results
Passengera has shown to be effective to satisfy the clients’ requirements and allow Czech Railways to improve the level of their service and their overall enhanced passenger experience.
Starting with a new efficient cost management of mobile data for wifi connections. Passengers are able to enjoy the comfort of a seamless internet connection across countries along the route.
With passengera onboard, Czech Railways is able to dynamically set up services specifically for the line the train is on, everything managed from a single centralised MMS.