The world is changing, and rail operators need to change with the times. Passengers demand the same connectivity they enjoy at home and work when traveling by train, and operators realize that they need to match these expectations to remain relevant in a competitive market. Fiber optic (FO) cabling systems are an ideal solution, but to date, the sector has been slow to adopt the technology. The rail industry is by nature conservative and risk-averse. Before it embraces new technology, it must be tested and proven mature enough to meet the sector’s needs.
The world is changing, and rail operators need to change with the times. Passengers demand the same connectivity they enjoy at home and work when traveling by train, and operators realize that they need to match these expectations to remain relevant in a competitive market. Fiber optic (FO) cabling systems are an ideal solution, but to date, the sector has been slow to adopt the technology. The rail industry is by nature conservative and risk-averse. Before it embraces new technology, it must be tested and proven mature enough to meet the sector’s needs.
Reducing unnecessary costs
Despite having been in use in a number of rail projects for over 25 years, fiber optic cable systems have often been considered expensive when compared to traditional copper twisted-pair technology. However, modern FO technology can help to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) for an operation by supporting the long-term evolution of onboard communications in an all-encompassing system.
Installing and managing complex technologies is an expensive and time-consuming venture for rail operators. When investing in infrastructure, expertise or maintenance facilities, operators require reliable solutions that can be trusted to work efficiently throughout the course of a service lifecycle to avoid incurring further costs.
Many factors are considered when it comes to calculating TCO, including performance, reliability and the initial purchase price. Smarter purchasing decisions can help to reduce the TCO and increase profits, which can then be used to support other long-term projects.
The reliability of FO solutions can mean trains spend less time out of service for repairs resulting in a multitude of benefits for operators. All trains will occasionally require servicing to stay fully operational but reducing the amount of time and effort required to do this will lead to a vast reduction of costs. HUBER+SUHNER solutions are built to meet customer’s specific endurance program requirements, ensuring that the technologies being leveraged are able to provide long-term durability and reliability throughout any stage of the service lifecycle.
The FO solutions on offer from HUBER+SUHNER reflect a ‘future ready’ approach, ensuring that the technology installed within a rail network are adaptable to future innovations, whilst reducing engineer call-out costs. Operators adopting these solutions can look forward to higher capacity for developments in wireless infrastructure across a range of communication applications at a reasonable cost without constant upgrades.
Tried and tested technology
HUBER+SUHNER has equipped more than 3,000 vehicles with onboard optical cabling infrastructures in more than ten countries on five continents. Thousands of optical inter-vehicle jumpers have been deployed by trains operated under all sorts of climatic conditions and are still carrying high-speed data traffic as efficiently as when they were first put into service. No other high-data-rate technology has a better track record than fiber optics, and HUBER+SUHNER has undoubtedly made an essential contribution to it and will continue to support it with cost-efficient, maintainable, and reliable connectivity solutions.
