- Neos Networks plans to put down 621.37 miles of new fiber on parts of Britain's rail network
- Freshwave will deploy cellular gear to combat signal blackspots in 57 tunnels
- National Rail claims this is the biggest upgrade to the country's telecoms rail infrastructure in years
You're traveling on a Great Western train from London Paddington to Bristol in 2030. Even moving at 125 miles per hour you still get 5G cellular coverage as you travel under rail tunnels and through remote fields dotted with lambs gamboling in the summer sun. Sounds idyllic, right? That's the plan for a new partnership aimed at delivering the biggest upgrade to Britain’s rail telecoms infrastructure in decades
Neos Networks and Freshwave have signed a deal with Network Rail that is intended to end the worst signal blackspots on the major rail arteries of Britain.
The multi-year agreement will see Neos deploy 621.37 miles (1,000 kilometers) of fiber optic cable across parts of Britain's rail network, including lengths of the East Coast Main Line (the route from London King’s Cross to Newcastle), the Chiltern Main Line and part of the West Coast Main Line to Manchester (the route from London Marylebone to Birmingham and then via the West Midlands to Stafford and on to Manchester), and the Great Western Main Line (the route from London Paddington to Cardiff).
National Rail also aims to grow the network to beyond 3,106.9 miles (5000 kilometers) in the future.
Meanwhile, Freshwave will work closely with the mobile network operators (MNOs) to initially deploy mobile infrastructure to tackle signal blackspots in 57 tunnels — covering almost 31 miles (50km) — and associated deep cuttings along the East Coast Main Line, the West Coast Main Line and the Great Western Main Line.
This includes the 2.5 mile-long Chipping Sodbury tunnel near Bristol and Gasworks and Copenhagen tunnels outside King’s Cross. Freshwave, and the MNOs, will also invest in new 4G and 5G infrastructure at 12 National Rail main line stations. This is a long-term project with the first installation of mobile infrastructure expected to begin in 2026.
The 5G train leaves the station
Neos and Freshwave aren't the only vendors involved in refreshing the UK's rail infrastructure. In December, Airspan announced that it is AWTG's radio access network (RAN) partner for England’s Connected Heartland Railways (ECH-R) project. As part of this deal, 1,900 AirSpeed outdoor small cells will be deployed along rail tracks in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire in the UK.
AirSpeed's open RAN-compliant radios will deliver 5G standalone-powered internet access to passengers on the train, better real-time communications and onboard diagnostics for drivers and operational teams aboard the train, and allow for the rollout of fixed wireless access (FWA) for communities near the tracks.