The Indian Space Research Organization has given the thumbs up to using satellite-delivered signals to supply on-board WiFi-connectivity on the country’s trains. At a stroke, this decision removes a potentially awkward hurdle for the nascent on-train WiFi sector in India.

In March of this year, the Minister of State for Railways told Parliament that the Howrah Rajdhani Express will be one of the first trains to be kitted out with WiFi. The service will run in the autumn on a pilot basis. The Minister went on to say that the initial system will use satellite-connectivity and will rely on a wireless link to distribute the signal between the coaches. The provisional launch date is September 25th of this year.

Indian Railways, who will present at BWCS’ Train Communications Systems Conference in Hong Kong in September, has of course got a track record in launching pilot schemes with a variety of companies. These include Techno SatCom, which had rolled out its on-board WiFi services on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express. The train operator also worked with Zylog Systems India which has been offering a wireless broadband service called on the Chennai- Bangalore-Chennai Shatabdi Express.

RailTel is also offering free WiFi connectivity at Bangalore railway station using its RailWire Broadband initiative. This service allows passengers to request WiFi access by sending RailTel an SMS, they then receive a password back from the operator allowing them to hook up.

The Centre for Railway Information Systems, the IT arm of Indian Railways, has also partnered with the Indian Space Research Organization develop a GPS-based device for trains which will provide real-time train tracking with an accuracy of 10 metres and latency of 2 minutes across the vast sub-continent. This will allow passengers to view their location in real-time.

All new and existing on-train WiFi services will be discussed at this summer’s WiFi on Trains conference – Train Communication Systems 2012, (www.Traincomms2012.com) which will be held on the 13th and 14th of June in London.

To reserve your place now, while tickets last, please contact Eileen.Fisher@BWCS.com

NB : This year BWCS will also host a Train Communications Systems Conference in Hong Kong, please e-mail Eileen.Fisher@BWCS.com for details.