Chair of WM5G, Mark Stansfeld has written an article for Rail Business Daily, looking at what’s next for 5G in the rail industry.
WM5G is looking at opportunities to use 5G to:
- Make transport more efficient and reliable.
- Improve access – making it easier to work, study and access leisure.
- Enhance the experience of travellers by improving services and products across the transport system.
If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s that mobile and broadband connectivity has become more important than ever to the way we live and work.
Key workers have relied on mobile and fixed connectivity to coordinate the response to the pandemic while millions of people have been and will continue working from home, relying on video conferencing and social media to stay in touch.
Unsurprisingly the pandemic has also had an impact on transport. Almost overnight, the Department for Transport saw a dramatic drop in road users with figures reaching as low as 23%. Similarly, National Rail reported as little as 4% of their usual passenger numbers. A few months on and these numbers still remain lower than ‘normal’.
While levels of use across public transport are lower than usual, it is important that we continue to work towards implementing and delivering technologies that will benefit commuters well into the future.
