This article first appeared in the Railway-News magazine Issue 5 2021.
With surging demand for a comprehensive upgrade of wifi coverage on rail networks across Europe, CCS’s innovative cable troughing product ARCOSYSTEM® is leading the way in making this mission a reality.
Many national rail companies throughout the continent are setting out ambitious plans to upscale the quality of their digital communications. In Germany work is already well under way, with Deutsche Bahn aiming to equip its entire 33,400km national network with fibre-optic technology by 2027. Denmark has announced similar plans for its railway lines, while in the UK the West Coast Main Line is to undergo a £45m upgrade which will see enhancements to wifi and 4G coverage, improving digital performance, safety and passenger telecoms.
ARCOSYSTEM®, CCS’s cable management system constructed of lightweight yet robust troughs made from pultruded fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP), is renowned for safely housing power, signal and high-voltage cables.
The newly developed ARCOSYSTEM® Size Zero, again made from FRP composite, is designed to fit and protect fibre-optic cables within a secure cell of 53mm x 56mm (2952mm2).
Due to difficult terrain or limited space along railway lines, it is not always technically possible to install conventional routing systems for protecting fibre-optic cables. The flexible ARCOSYSTEM® Size Zero, however, can be fastened to the ground, wall-mounted or attached to bridges, and is also designed to be installed safely on a slope or in areas affected by snow drifts.
CCS’s Swiss partner, Castioni Kabelführungssysteme GmbH, manufacturer of ARCOSYSTEM®, is an approved supplier for Deutsche Bahn. Installing the Size Zero product trackside to house and protect fibre-optic cables will help minimise disturbances to operational traffic and reduce the risk of theft and vandalism, while securing highly optimised uptime. Having a routing system dedicated for this purpose also helps to separate digital and signalling communications, bringing reliability, availability and maintainability to modern rail cabling systems.
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