The “5G am Gleis” (5G on the track) project will bring boosted connectivity to the country’s railway network
The railway line between Hamburg and Berlin is set to receive ‘seamless’ 5G coverage, thanks to a declaration of intent signed by Deutsche Bahn, the federal government, and the German telcos 1&1, Deutsche Telekom, O2Telefónica, and Vodafone.
The partners announced the deal at the Digital Summit in Frankfurt this week, , pledging to jointly test, develop, and install 5G masts across the 278km long Hamburg–Berlin route.
This route is already scheduled for renovation between August 2025 and April 2026, providing a 9-month window in which to explore infrastructure deployment options and ensure gigabit-capable connectivity for passengers.
The project, dubbed the Future Rail Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), will see the deployment of shared mobile masts besides the tracks, with the partners working together to overcome technical challenges.
“Our gigabit strategy aims to enable gigabit bandwidths wherever people live, work and travel. With the MoU, we are setting an equally ambitious gigabit timetable alongside the ambitious schedule for the upcoming general refurbishment of the Hamburg-Berlin line. Through the joint rail and mobile expansion, we are realising considerable synergies and cost savings hand in hand. This will benefit all travellers, who can look forward to high-performance and uninterrupted mobile communications coverage in the future,” said Dr Volker Wissing, the German Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport said in a press release.
One of the major challenges the FRMCS is seeking to tackle is how to get the 5G signal into the train carriages themselves. Currently, the metal coating on the train windows makes them difficult for 5G signals to penetrate, meaning mobile signal is often delivered to a carriage’s interior by a repeater connected to an antenna on the carriage’s exterior. However, new window technology, which works by etching tiny holes in the metal coating, could allow 5G signals to penetrate the carriage directly from outside.
“Our goal is to make digital work and entertainment on the train as easy for customers as at home,” explained Valentina Daiber, Board Member for Legal and Corporate Affairs at O2 Telefónica, noting that it was a matter of “technical feasibility and identifying the most effective approaches”.
In related news, earlier this month Deutsche Telekom shared that they had made significant improvements to mobile coverage across the national rail network roughly two years ahead of schedule. According to the operator, 99% of German rail passengers on ‘main routes’ can access speeds of at least 200 Mbps.
Source: https://totaltele.com/german-operators-team-up-to-test-railway-5g/