Caltrain
2008
Running through the heart of Silicon Valley, Caltrain’s Millbrae to Palo Alto line serves thousands of passengers each day. With increasing competition and few viable opportunities for substantial revenue growth, Caltrain needed to find a competitive advantage that would allow. them to retain their existing ridership and attract new customers. They also needed a solution that would improve the efficiency of their existing business practices and enhance the overall level of communication across a multi- disciplinary organization.
For the Proof of Concept (PoC), Caltrain required a reliable, robust wireless broadband link that would connect its trains as they travelled between the Millbrae and Palo Alto rail stations. In addition CCJPA, who runs a second line along Santa Clara to San Jose Diridon, were interested in trialling real-time CCTV and Passenger WiFi to see if the concept was viable.
The solution involved two trials involving Caltrain and CCJPA. For both PoC’s, Nomad teamed up with Redline, Intel, and Sensoria to build a broadband system that seamlessly connects multiple wireless access points into an advanced WiMAX network. Using both Nomad’s switching technology and Redline’s wireless broadband infrastructure products, seamless high-speed internet access is possible through successful handoff connections from one access point to another.
The first PoC for Caltrain involved a Passenger WiFi service running along the main route. The seamless wireless network was based on a combination of standards based broadband wireless products using OFDM technology and WiFi systems that allows passengers to read email, browse the web and download digital data, such as music and games at broadband speed, throughout their journey. For the second PoC, Nomad trialled a Passenger WiFi and real-time CCTV service. The real-time CCTV service involved cameras positioned at stations along the route connected to an LCD screen in the driver’s cabin. This enabled the driver to see passengers at stations, or any potential problems ahead.
The result from both the Caltrain and CCJPA PoC is proof that a high-speed broadband rail service is possible. The service significantly improved the overall customer experience by allowing Caltrain customers to work from their laptops and turn their commute time into productive office time.
The PoC has also given CCJPA the ability to remote download high-quality CCTV video of the train’s next stop. This has given CCJPA drivers the benefit of seeing upcoming stations before arriving, in order to advise passengers if there are a large number of passengers boarding.
