Zambia launches $51m mobile comms system

Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) has begun the roll-out of a new mobile communication infrastructure for the 980-kilometre Chingola- Livingstone railway line under a US$51-million contract. It’s all part of an overall railway upgrade strategy to improve operational efficiency and safety. ZRL has appointed Huawei, a global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, to roll out the country’s first Global System for Mobile Communication – Railway (GSM-R) communication infrastructure. Norman Frisch, business development railway solutions for Huawei, told FTW that the roll-out, which began earlier this year, was expected to take three and a half years to complete. He noted that Huawei had helped railway operators to upgrade their systems to GSM-R technology across Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe, covering over 23 000 kilometres of railway lines. “Currently ZRL is operating an analog radio system but train operators and ground staff have resorted to using mobile telephones for their rail operational communication needs,” said Frisch. The problem with that is that mobile signals can be unreliable and will cut out if train speeds increase – especially when systems such as public mobile networks have not been designed to provide services along the railway lines, he said. “The GSM-R system can withstand speeds of up to 500 kilometres per hour and is adapted to the harsh environmental conditions of railway operation,” noted Frisch. Other benefits include the fact that the train signalling system is placed on the train itself from where it communicates data such as speed and location to on-theground systems without the need for ground-based infrastructure which could be vulnerable to natural elements and theft. Frisch said that the train signalling system increased the capacity of the existing railway tracks as the technology allowed for perfect timing and synchronisation between trains. “The system continuously updates information so that other train controllers know, to the second, what time a train is expected at a station or at a specific point and can adjust accordingly.” INSERT & CAPTION The system tells train controllers, to the second, what time a train is expected at a station. – Norman Frisch CAPTION ZRL is implementing a major railway line and communication system upgrade on the Chingola-Livingstone line.