Hong Kong MTR West Railway Telecommunications Radio Network

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The Hong Kong MTR West Rail Line (formerly KCRC West Rail), a vital component of the city's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) network, connects the Kowloon region to the New Territories. Opened in 2003, this 30.5-kilometer line serves nine stations and plays a crucial role in reducing traffic congestion, improving mobility, and integrating with other MTR lines and public transport systems.

To support efficient operations and safety, the KCRC(Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation) required a TETRA Trunk Mobile Radio telecommunications system for both train radio communications and railway station radio communications. The system needed to provide reliable, high-quality communication coverage along the West Rail Line, including nine tunnels, nine railway stations, and 100 ancillary buildings, to facilitate train operations, passenger services, and emergency response teams.

Key Objectives:

1. Seamless Communication Coverage: Ensure high-reliability communication along the entire West Rail Line, including inside tunnels, railway stations, viaducts, and train compartments.
2. System Interoperability: Integrate the communication system with MTR, KCRC, and Light Rail networks for interoperability and coordination.
3. Enhanced Safety: Enable real-time communication for operational teams to improve emergency response and system resilience.

Key Activities:

• Project Management: Careful planning, detailed work breakdown structures, resource allocation, and project monitoring to ensure timely and on-budget delivery.

• Needs Assessment: Thorough review of tender documentation, extensive consultations with stakeholders, Coverage Area, Capacity and Spectrum analysis to determine antenna placement, base station sizing and channel allocation.

• Technology Selection: The team chose a hybrid solution combining fibre optic transceivers, cascaded bi-directional amplifiers, and distributed antenna systems to provide seamless reliable coverage across the rail network.

• Network Design: RF propagation models were created for urban, rural and in building environments to determine power, noise, intermodulation and spurious free dynamic range levels to design an optimal distributed antenna system for seamless coverage across the network, minimising CAPEX costs.

• Implementation and Testing: Siemens implemented the installation, following the detailed design and installation drawings provided by our principal consultant. This was followed by rigorous testing by KCRC engineers to ensure compliance with specifications and successful operational performance.

Results:

1. Reliable, High-Performance Communication: The radio system provided continuous, high-quality communications along the entire West Rail Line, ensuring operational efficiency and safety. 
2. Operational Efficiency: Real-time communication between train operations, maintenance teams and control centers streamlined operations and improved coordination, streamlined decision making and reduced operational delays and enhanced service reliability.
3. Improved Safety Protocols: Reliable communications facilitated faster emergency response times, ensuring passenger and staff safety.
4. Increased Passenger Satisfaction: Reduced disruptions and delays contributed to higher satisfaction levels among passengers.

Conclusion:

The implementation of a TETRA hybrid distributed antenna system for the KCRC West Rail Line successfully met the technical, operational and safety requirements of the KCRC, avoiding delays and reducing costs. Through expert planning and collaboration, the project ensured efficient system performance, contributing to smoother rail services, enhanced safety, and improved passenger experience.