The bandwidth in the long-distance trains of Deutsche Bahn is to be expanded. To do this, the state-owned company wants to modify the windows of the ICEs.
(Foto: picture alliance/dpa)
Frankfurt Deutsche Bahn wants to convert its existing ICE fleet to such an extent that better mobile phone reception and higher Internet bandwidths will be possible in the future. For this purpose, the windows, whose thin and heat-insulating metal layer has so far not let mobile phone waves through, are to be rastered by laser so far that the waves can penetrate into the interior of the car.
“The train is thus becoming an extended office and living room,” said Daniela Gerd tom Markotten, Deutsche Bahn’s digital board member since autumn last year, last Friday. There is no need to discuss whether it makes sense to have bandwidths like at home on a train that speeds through the countryside at 300 kilometers an hour: “Customers expect that.”
The technology with the lasered and rastered windows is being used for the first time in the new ICE 3 neo, which Deutsche Bahn presented together with the manufacturer Siemens a few days ago. It was examined whether the windows of the existing fleet might also be reworked, said Gerd tom Markotten. This is not trivial, since the windows have certain security functions. But it works. “We will put the first ICE with the permeable windows on the track at the end of the year,” said the board member.
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The high-speed trains are thus prepared for future, even more powerful mobile communications standards. So far, so-called repeaters have been used in the ICEs that are already in operation, which amplify the radio signal in the wagon. However, these must be replaced with new mobile radio standards. With a fleet of more than 300 ICEs, this is a time-consuming undertaking.
Last summer, the state-owned company agreed with Deutsche Telekom that by the end of 2024 the 7,800 kilometers of main traffic routes, on which all ICE trains and the most important ICs run, would be upgraded and expanded to such an extent that data rates of more than 200 megabits per second ( Mbit/s) should be possible. By the end of 2025, this should also be achieved for the other busy routes, which have a length of 13,800 kilometers. By the end of 2026, a bandwidth of at least 100 Mbit/s should be available on the remaining 11,800 kilometers of regional traffic.
Fiber optics on the tracks
Gerd tom Markotten was confident that he would soon be able to conclude corresponding contracts with other telecom providers. Then the dead spots would also be a thing of the past. A few weeks ago, in their annual survey, the magazine “Connect” and the service provider Umlaut found that the quality of mobile communications along the tracks had even deteriorated in some cases. The rail network often runs along where there are no buildings. The telecom companies have hardly built any infrastructure here so far.
That should change, the railway wants to make its own fiber optic infrastructure available along the tracks. Without mobile communications on site, permeable windows in the ICEs would of course not help, said Gerd tom Markotten.
“Connectivity” is one of three core topics that the new digital board member wants to tackle in the coming months in order to make the railway more attractive for customers. A second is digital maintenance, i.e. the use of sensors to detect and eliminate signs of damage to trains and rails at an early stage.
The less often and the shorter a train has to go to the workshop, the more reliably the train can run, said Gerd tom Markotten: “A train should be rolling and not standing still. Every hour spent in maintenance is an hour lost.” For example, Deutsche Bahn is setting up systems that measure the wheelsets of the trains when they run over them. They are the component that wears out the fastest.
A third focus is the intelligent control of capacity. “Artificial intelligence makes the train more punctual,” says the manager, who previously worked in the automotive industry. Shortly before she left, her predecessor Sabina Jeschke had set up a project for the S-Bahn in Stuttgart, in which state-of-the-art computers support the work of the dispatchers.
If there is a disruption, the railway employees can watch a small video showing the order the IT system suggests for the following trains in order to minimize delays. “We will also use the system on the S-Bahn in Rhein-Main and in Munich,” said Gerd tom Markotten.
She referred to the results of the pilot test in Stuttgart: “We are able to make up for delays of up to eight minutes and improve punctuality by three percent.” without giving a timetable for it.
More: A car manager and founder is to advance digitization at Deutsche Bahn.
