GSM-R for railways in Europe

The new technology for railway radio transmission is GSM-R. Deutsche Bahn AG is taking the initiative, and other railway companies are also currently planning and building their systems.

FW Fernmeldewerk München-Aubing GmbH (FW) is a full life-cycle service provider for many analog and digital railway cab radios and other radio frequency equipment. FW is starting with engineering and prototyping, and will create and manufacture special equipment for railways. FW was a part of Deutsche Bahn AG and since 2001 it has been an independent company.

FW is working with GSM-R at first. For example, FW carried out all the engineering for S-Bahn Hamburg and has created some special mechanical and electrical parts for all ICE 3 trains in Germany and is installing them in all trains. In addition, FW will work in the whole of Germany and conduct the first measurements and start the cab radios.

FW will cooperate with many companies and GSM-R manufacturers. FW therefore has great knowledge concerning cab radios and can offer the best conditions to all customers in Europe.

Through its various planning and installation projects in the GSM-R area, FW has become a real service provider.

Procedure for equipping railway vehicles with GSM-R technology in phases

Task:

• Survey of all structures with environment influences from a technical and geographical point of view
• Equipment features of vehicles

Consultation and selection of equipment:

• Project support on customer’s premises (begins during the offer phase)
• Consultation in the selection of components according to manufacturer
• Type (single/dual mode, mobile, stationary) according to requirements
• Temperature development, operating hours by deployment times
• Technical connections, required interfaces

Planning, sample equipment:

• Surveying installation conditions
• Creating a plan according to optimum vehicle condition
• Valid technical documents
• Safety regulations
• Configuration test
• Documentation of all phases

Release of plan by EBA, operator, equipment manufacturer:

• Addition of individual components, e.g, cables or mechanical parts
• Storage of necessary components (hardware and SIM cards)
• Input test of all components
• Sample equipping on customer’s premises
• Testing of equipment and route illumination
• Documented test series in measuring procedure
• Documentation for acceptance procedure
• Certificates according to all criteria on the complete package
• Fulfillment of all technical and safety-relevant requirements
• Release for series equipment

Commissioning and acceptance:

• Execution of rollouts including interim storage and quality assurance
• Support for series installation on site (possible throughout Germany)
• Maintaining consignment stocks during the guarantee period at the manufacturer’s request
• Handling of guarantee procedures (including manufacturer-defined decisions between services to be paid for and free services)
• Execution of antenna measurements (definition of location, of parameters at the time of installation or for troubleshooting)

Life-cycle Service:

• Hotline support with escalation
• Comprehensive life-cycle service
• Product support
• Installation of components (possible throughout Germany)
• Installation/handover on site on call-out basis
• Execution of repairs (following previous training by the manufacturer and setting-up of a test environment)
• Hotline service for customer with database analyses
• On-site support as required at fixed hourly and daily rates including auxiliary expenses (travel, accommodation, etc.)
• Independent execution of life-cycle service by FW GmbH including preparation of repair data for the customer and escalation to the manufacturer (e.g., with Ascom Autelca, we have agreed regular monthly reporting and additional quarterly meetings)
• Implementation in exchange procedure at all-inclusive prices (staggered according to scope of repair if applicable), with guaranteed delivery times, fixed payment periods and guarantee
• Alternatively: implementation as individual repairs according to cost (for customer-specific components), with guaranteed delivery times, fixed payment periods and guarantee.

Table 1

References

Comprehensive experience of repairing and retrofitting analogue radio and train radio 70 and 90
Retrofitting of radio control ‘Zugfunk 90’ according to EBA standards
Integrated housing for RIH (Rack Individual Hoch)
Diverse special constructions, manufacture, function test at FW, storage and installation/handover on site on call-out basis
110 locomotives of the ICE 3 fleet equipped on the order of NNG
Training consoles designed and produced for the DB network
120 equipment projects for the BR 425.2 (provided on the order of NNG to Bombardier as part of the rebuilding)
S-Bahn Engineering – sample installation – documentation for series installationBringing into service (HdF acceptance), preparation and support during the EBA acceptance (TÜV function) in: Görlitz, Munich, Kassel, Salzgitter
Retrofitting support for BOB (Bayerische Oberlandbahn)
Installation of components in small series (private railways)
User training in Dortmund GSM-R in practice