Interaction with passengers, a duty or a commercial argument?

If you’re looking for an expert view on passenger information, you should take a look at the latest International Railway Journal (IRJ) issue – the article ‘A new age of communication’.  Niren Choudhury, Global Director for Strategic Industries at Alcatel-Lucent explains that telecom technology is providing railway operators with more opportunities to connect and interact [...]

Do you have a Personal Connection?

Let’s connect with a new rail magazine called ‘Urban transport Agenda’. In its first edition, Olivier André, Vice President for Transport at Alcatel-Lucent explains the new role of the company to transform the passenger experience with advanced multimedia applications to be informed, entertained, and stay always connected. Additionally, the telecom expert is engaged to “work [...]

Traveling Now with Your Future Passengers

Could the train be an extension of my office, my home, my social spaces? This is one of the questions asked by more and more passengers. With comfort and security considered as a given, they expect now to be informed, entertained and remain productive. The good news is that new technologies are future-ready! Location services, [...]

Technological milestone as 2G and 3G mobile communication services go live in Eurotunnel

On July 26, David Meyer reported in ZDNet on the major launch of 2G and 3G services in the Channel Tunnel (Mobile services going live in the Channel Tunnel ahead of Olympics). Travelers on their way to England via high speed trains such as the Eurostar, will now be able to use their cell phones [...]

Going underground

Life in today’s modern urban environment is very much an above and underground experience. As urban populations swelled during the 20th century transport planners found that they could no longer rely solely on a city’s increasingly gridlocked road network. In many cities the green light was consequently given to dig more tunnels that would provide [...]

With: R. Leucker, CEO of Stuva - 26 Apr 2012

A holistic approach to railway security

By TrackTalk editors Passengers need to feel safe. Waiting for a train at a dark and empty station with inadequate service information and an absence of visible staff can be an unnerving experience. For many this is often too much to bear, leading them to choose other modes of transport. Research shows that passengers feel [...]

What puts women off using the train?

Providing a safe environment is imperative for public transport operators hoping to retain and attract new passengers to their services. Dark and deserted stations and trains are understandably off-putting and can encourage people to seek alternative means of transport, or even not travel at all, to avoid feeling threatened, or in some instances becoming a [...]

With: Dr A. Loukaitou-Sideris, Associate Dean Luskin School of Public Affairs and Professor of Urban Planning, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) - 20 Jan 2012

HS2 – The undiscovered economic impact

By Olivier Andre, Alcatel-Lucent’s Vice President of Business Development – Transport In the news this week in the UK, the Transport Secretary Justine Greening announced that the High Speed Rail line project HS2 between London and Birmingham had been given the go ahead. Throughout the debate and the controversy, the positive economic impact was cited as [...]

Let’s take up the railways challenge of reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions with ICT

By Olivier Andre, Alcatel-Lucent’s Vice President of Business Development – Transport UNIFE, the Association of the European Rail Industry, and CER, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, jointly published in December an interesting press release highlighting the environmental benefits of the railways, in this instance, specifically talking about freight.

Integrated international travel – the challenge ahead

Discover how communication networks enabling integrating ticketing and real-time passenger information system (PIS) can benefit both passenger experience and rail operators.

With: M. Smith, The Man in Seat 61 - 18 Apr 2011