Railcorp signals in digital radio

Railcorp has inked a two and half year deal with communications supplier Huawei Australia to replace its ageing analogue radio network with a digital solution used in China’s ultra-fast railway network.

The competitive tender process was completed on December 21 last year and will see the installation of the Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R) across the entire NSW state rail network.

Huawei Australia CTO Peter Rossi said the company will design, build and maintain the network based on the Chinese model.

“The challenges we came up against in China can be applied to the Australian environment. Long tunnels, vast distances, and high traffic areas – all of these problems were overcome using...GSM-R solutions,” Rossi said in a statement.

The platform is expected to improve rail network safety, extend radio coverage, and integrate voice communications.

Huawei Australia did not release the value of the deal.