Norwegian transport operator Vy is upgrading the digital passenger experience for customers travelling between Oslo and Bergen. Icomera, a subsidiary of EQUANS, and its newly-acquired business unit GoMedia have been awarded the contracts to provide Passenger Wi-Fi and the onboard entertainment portal.
Vy Group (formally NSB), is one of the largest transport groups in the Nordic region. The Bergen Line runs over the highlands between the two largest cities in Norway, Oslo and Bergen. It offers one of the most spectacular scenic travel experiences in Europe but unfortunately also suffers from limited cellular coverage and capacity.
Acknowledging that passenger expectations could no longer be met by the Wi-Fi equipment that had previously been installed, Vy embarked on a rigorous procurement process to find both a new Wi-Fi supplier and a complementary entertainment solution.
The winning Wi-Fi solution from Icomera will utilise the latest iteration of its SureWAN™ connectivity protocol, intelligently connecting Vy’s trains to cellular towers along the Bergen Line route. By maximising the available cellular coverage and aggregating the available cellular capacity, Icomera will provide a faster, more reliable Wi-Fi experience for Vy’s passengers.
GoMedia, the world’s leading provider of infotainment for public transport, will supplement Icomera’s Passenger Wi-Fi with its onboard information and entertainment technology making use of both Icomera’s Wi-Fi network and hardware. The content behind GoMedia’s entertainment solution is securely uploaded to the onboard Icomera hardware so does not require an external Internet connection – freeing up more of the available bandwidth for passengers using the Wi-Fi for “digital chores” (emails and social media etc.).
Torsten John, SVP EMEA, at Icomera explains: “The custom designed system architecture for the Bergen Line fleet is based around the Icomera X³ (Rail) multi-modem mobile connectivity and applications gateway. The Wi-Fi and entertainment content is delivered to passengers through Icomera SynAPse Access Points installed in every carriage. Every component in the chain has been designed to comfortably meet the data-heavy requirements of passengers in every coach of the train”.
Roger Matthews, Managing Director of GoMedia added: “Vy will benefit from the holistic approach to the contemporary digital passenger experience that has arisen from Icomera’s acquisition of GoMedia in September last year”.
Linda Kragseth, Head of Customer and Product Development at Vy: “We are shaping our business around our customers’ needs in order to deliver the best journey and work hard to make it easy to travel in an environmentally friendly way and use public transportation. The digital passenger experience delivered by Icomera and GoMedia will advance us further along our smarter, greener, safer, and more profitable journey”.
Installation work started in Spring 2021, with the roll-out across 72 VY train coaches due to be completed in December 2021.
Read this story as a PDF.
