Contract with Thales Canada Transportation Solutions to supply trackside and on-board antennas and equipment for CBTC rail communications

HUBER+SUHNER has been chosen to supply Thales with a range of trackside and on-board antennas and cables to support the CBTC (Communications Based Train Control) system of New York City Subway. CBTC enables a continuous, high capacity, two-way digital communication between each train and control centre. The control system benefits from enhanced information such as train performance data and continuous determination of train location and speed.

Under a contract with Thales Canada Transportation Solutions, SENCITY® SPOT-M Yagi antennas and rolling stock SPOT-S antennas, together with Radio Frequency (RF) cable assemblies of HUBER+SUHNER will be used to provide the train-to-track radio network for trackside and rolling stock on the New York City Transit Flushing Line 7.

The on-board SPOT-S antennas are installed in the front of the car of each train and linked with RF cable assemblies with an access point on the train. The SENCITY® SPOT-M Yagi antennas are used in tunnels, where directional functionality and high gain is required to support the wireless communication systems that Thales deploys globally. All these products of HUBER+SUHNER delivered to Thales meet the railway-specific environmental requirements as per EN 50125-3 and fire safety requirements as per EN 45545-2.

The Yagi antenna was chosen because of the ability for a higher gain antenna to give better RF coverage and therefore achieve better network reliability. It is also a perfect shape and design for tunnel installations including between narrow tracks, since space is always an issue in such environments. The construction of the antennas protects them against water penetration and moisture, optimizing the performance of the antenna.

Scott Annis, Sales Director North America of HUBER+SUHNER said: “Thales Canada had a requirement for a high performance, narrow beam trackside antenna for use in the many tunnels that the New York City Subway trains travel through and our Yagi antenna fulfilled that need.”

“Thales is a long-term partner of ours and we already supply the company with antennas, LF and RF cables, and soon fibre optic products,” said Scott Annis. So there is the possibility for HUBER+SUHNER to deliver more antennas and other products for other projects worldwide in collaboration with Thales.

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