Great Northern has successfully launched its first passenger train using an upgraded European Train Control System (ETCS) on the Northern City line. This upgrade replaces the older GSM-R technology with faster GPRS, enhancing capacity and allowing shared usage of the radio channel for signalling. The Class 717 train made its inaugural journey from Finsbury Park to Moorgate, contributing to improvements in train operations. All 25 Class 717 trains will undergo this software upgrade in addition to other operators on the East Coast Mainline implementing this advanced signalling system.
The key advantage is that sending signalling information over GSM-R is akin to the old dial-up technology, which hogs the radio channel and prevents anyone else from sharing it for voice calls. GPRS is akin to switching to broadband, in that the GSM-R channel can be shared with the signalling network.
Only seven weeks ago, working closely with our industry partners, we created the UK network's first-ever 'signals-free' commuter railway on the Northern City Line between Finsbury Park and London Moorgate.
The signalling system uses a radio link between the train and signals to control the train movement, but that radio link uses a fairly old technology - GSM-R, a derivative of the 2G mobile phone standard.
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