Why do trains not have Wi-Fi?

“If the rail car is passing through a very crowded region, then the rail car is sharing the wireless tower with other users,” Dhillon said. “So there's a lot of pressure on that tower from the people on the railway and from the outside world. This could result in slow internet or even dropped connections.”



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With the advent of 5G, cellular technology has evolved to a point where truly digitalised rolling stock becomes possible. Up to 100x faster than its 4G predecessor, 5G will be critical to the success of real-time operations on-board trains. But, how does train-to-ground communication actually work?

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How the Internet of Trains Works. Essentially, many sensors are placed all over a train. These sensors monitor the train's engine temperature, whether doors are closed or open, rail vibrations, and more. Cameras are also placed on the outside of the train where image data is sent back to the system for interpretation.

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But trains are still only the second-safest option, with the first-safest option being — you guess it — flying. According to that same study, the number of deaths per billion passenger-miles caused by airplanes is a measly 0.07. And this statistic is just one of many that illustrate just how safe air travel is.

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HOW SAFE ARE TRAINS? Trains are statistically much safer than driving. In 2020, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics recorded 40,867 total deaths from travel, including in planes, in cars on highways and on trains.

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Prevailing railroad work rules reflected century-old conditions and equipment, meaning that crew costs were astronomical. Even the newest equipment was a decade or two old, and more often than not, maintenance had been deferred as economics soured.

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Basically, the bus/train/whatever has a wifi hotspot (or often actually multiple hotspots) mounted which you connect to. For this reason the signal you see on your laptop always stays the same strength no matter where you go. These are connected to a router somewhere onboard.

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China's first commercial driverless sky train begins trial run in Wuhan's hi-tech park. The Chinese city of Wuhan began testing a driverless sky train in its hi-tech park on May 9, 2023. The country's first commercial sky train is expected to open to the public later in the year.

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Some locomotives collect electricity from overhead cables, while others take power from a third “live” rail on the track. It is very expensive to build the lines or rails that carry the electric current, but electric locomotives are cleaner, quieter, faster, and more reliable than steam or diesel engines.

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Railroads are roughly four times more fuel efficient than trucks. Shipping freight via rail limits greenhouse gas emissions and increases fuel efficiency, reducing the transportation carbon footprint. In fact, moving freight by rail instead of truck lowers greenhouse gas emissions by 75%.

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