Internet
Mobile communications while traveling: Start of 5G test drives on the train route
A Deutsche Bahn test train drives past one of the antenna masts for the 5G rail project. photo
© Jens Büttner/dpa
How was the internet connection on the train ride the other day? Anyone who asks a question like that rarely sees smiling faces. Northern Germany is testing how things can get better.
An ambitious rail project to improve cell phone reception on trains is making progress. A train is scheduled to roll for the first time today on the ten kilometer long test route between Karow and Malchow in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Deutsche Bahn announced that it would carry out mobile phone measurements to receive the 5G radio standard. It’s about the “Gigabit Innovation Track” project, in which the mobile operator O2 Telefónica, the infrastructure company Vantage Towers and the network equipment provider Ericsson are also taking part.
The 5G radio standard offers the best data transmission, but so far it has only played a minor role on railway lines. It is mainly used in cities. This is also because its antennas only have a range of around one kilometer. The rail project is now intended to test how this radio standard can also be used effectively in fast-moving trains. The antennas are specifically aligned with the railway line and transmission is carried out in the high 3.6 gigahertz frequency band – this band offers a particularly high and fast data throughput.
A discarded ICE train was equipped with antennas on the outside and inside of the train for the test runs and converted into a laboratory train. The connection transfer from one radio cell to the next is also critical when the smartphone is on a fast train. The tests should also provide insights into this. Initially, the laboratory train travels at up to 80 kilometers per hour. Later, as part of the project, it will be able to reach speeds of up to 140 kilometers per hour.
It is still unclear whether such a gigabit network will ever be built on a large scale on Germany’s railway tracks. Especially since that would be an expensive thing and would require many more cell phone masts along the railway lines than there are today. However, if the experts come to the conclusion that 5G in the high frequency band is very suitable for rail routes and that the costs can be controlled thanks to an uncomplicated design, this could provide travelers with better coverage on train journeys in the future.