Improving mobile connectivity on the SEQ Rail Network

Rail commuters in South East Queensland (SEQ) could soon receive better phone coverage on the way to work, thanks to an initiative being delivered under the SEQ City Deal— a partnership between the Australian and Queensland governments and the Council of Mayors SEQ.

Geographically speaking, the SEQ network should have strong telecommunications coverage throughout. Yet, as Project Manager Claire Pierce explains, physical barriers on trains and within the rail corridor mean that testimonies from passengers often tell a different story.

“First, you’re dealing with physical barriers like tunnels and underpasses, as well as interference from other systems,” Claire said. “On top of that, we are effectively putting people inside a metal case that acts like a Faraday cage, bouncing those radio signals back, instead of letting them penetrate the carriage where the passengers are sitting.”

Natural barriers like patches of dense forestation where mobile cell towers are few and far between can also impede coverage.

“Placing telecommunications equipment in the corridor also raises the risk of interference with other rail systems, not to mention limited accessibility for maintenance given the constant movement of trains,” Claire said. So it's a real challenge. While the publicly available data from the mobile network operators suggest much of the network should have strong coverage, the experience of commuters is often very different.”

Solving the issue

Claire, who has more than a decade of experience in the rail industry, is leading efforts to solve this challenge through her engagement with the Department of Transport and Main Roads in Queensland.

As part of the Rail Corridor Digital Connectivity Project, she and her team have been mapping the network in detail, riding the rails with measurement equipment to capture an accurate picture of connectivity along the corridor.

“We’ve found that, in fact, yes, the experience of commuters is not a fantastic one. We've got a lot of mobile black spots across our network,” she said.

“So we dug deeper to understand what causes these blackspots. Is it a matter of those physical obstacles in the rail corridor, a lack of actual network coverage or is it the trains themselves getting in the way?”

After sifting through the data and earmarking areas of low connectivity, Claire and team have since turned their attention to solutions. Much of this work has centred on prioritisation to ensure the greatest impact across the network.

“We’ve had to explore which options will deliver the greatest benefit to commuters and deliver strong value for government. This process has helped us discern our highest benefit short-term solutions, as well as a long tail of solutions that we may seek to explore in the future should more funding become available.”

Two projects were born

From this process, Claire and team have arrived at two best practice ideas.

The first addresses the Faraday cage effect of the trains, in which radio frequencies bounce off the carriage.

After networking with global peers, Claire identified an innovation that could help radio frequencies penetrate train windows.

“You would think that radio frequencies could penetrate glass, but train windows have a microscopic layer of metallic film inside, which can be just as unforgiving to radio frequencies as the carriage walls.

“To counter this in Europe, they are starting to etch microscopic mesh in that metallic film to allow the radio frequencies through. When I say microscopic, it's almost invisible to the naked eye, so it's not something that's going to disrupt the commuter's view out the window, but it does allow for those frequencies to better penetrate into the carriage.”

The second project addresses the largest black spot on the network: Central Station in Brisbane CBD, and the tunnels that extend from it on either side.

“We are looking at putting in place a distributed antenna system where we'll propagate each mobile operators’ cell networks across the platforms and down through the tunnel spaces so that as the trains progress through commuters can still stay connected.”

Looking ahead

The Project is also exploring other options that could be used in areas with low or no connectivity.

“The North Coast Line, where the line runs through significant tracts of forest could really benefit from this. Because there's no suburban area nearby, there are few potential customers for mobile network operators – besides commuters – so you don't tend to find many cell towers.

“This means there are long stretches of very poor connectivity, so it is important that we look at how to address that challenge, particularly as we consider the commuter experience on The Wave, the new rail line in development to connect the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.”

Further insight

Sharing more on the challenges and solutions the Project is progressing, Claire Pierce will present at the upcoming Rail Technology & Interoperability Conference, hosted by Informa.

This year’s event will be held 20–21 October at the Swissotel Sydney.

Learn more and register your tickets here.