Nokia to test 5G network for automated rail operation

Nokia is set to test and deploy a standalone (SA) 5G system for automated rail operation in Hamburg, Germany, after winning a tender from Deutsche Bahn.

The proof of concept will see Nokia’s 3GPP standards-based 5G system installed as part of the ‘Digitale S-Bahn Hamburg’ project, allowing highly or fully automated trains to exchange relevant data with trackside equipment by 5G radio, according to Nokia.

If successful, the solution could help improve cross-border operation, rail infrastructure capacity, train punctuality and customer experiences, Nokia said.

Highly automated trains are expected to operate on a 23 km section of S-Bahn Line 21, starting at Berliner Tor — one of Hamburg’s main transport hubs — by 2021, Nokia said. As part of the demonstration, train control information will be transmitted via Nokia’s 5G network to support fully driverless shunting of empty trains, the company added.

Nokia said the installation will “test whether 5G technology is mature enough to be used as the connectivity layer for future digitalised rail operations”.

It “constitutes an early and important step in the development of the Future Railway Mobile Communications System standard, based on 5G, and sets the stage for the digital transformation of railway operations”, Nokia added.

Image courtesy Nokia.