Teltronic onboard with broadband in Mexico

Critical communications specialist Teltronic has announced it will supply on-board equipment to deliver broadband communication services across all new trains on line 1 of the Mexico City Metro.

The company will install its RTP-800 onboard radio across 39 trains operated by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC). The Mexico City Metro is the second largest metro system in North America after the New York City Subway and served 1.6 billion passengers last year, the tenth highest ridership in the world.

As part of STC’s ongoing modernisation process of the oldest line within its system, Teltronic will add 4G and TETRA multi-technology capabilities to allow simultaneous transmission of voice and large volumes of data. STC has also invested to renew the tracks, traction power supply systems, high voltage power supply and depots along the line.

The RTP-800 equipment comprises radios to enable simultaneous narrowband (TETRA) and broadband (4G) radio communications which will be installed in the 29 new trains that will soon enter service, as well as in each of the ten trains recently acquired by Metro de Mexico City.

The TETRA radio access will be used for drivers’ voice communications with the control center, while the broadband will be used for maintenance and CCTV. The equipment will also be integrated with the train control and monitoring system (TCMS) and the train public address system.

Felipe Sanjuán, transport business development director, said: “We are proud to participate in this modernization process that will provide Line 1 with the most advanced communication systems in the world; with a project that catapults us as a reference company in the LTE broadband market for the transport sector and with solutions that demonstrate that Teltronic is prepared to meet the present and future needs of railway environments.”

The inaugural STC Metro line served 16 stations and opened to the public on 4 September 1969. Ten of the lines are rubber-tired instead of traditional steel wheels using pneumatic traction, which rides smoother in Mexico City's unstable soils.

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