Nokia to build the world's first 5G automated railway in Germany

The development of 5G is already in its advanced stages and the application is slowly moving into different sectors. 5G application spans beyond smartphones. We expect to see the use of this technology in transport, the health sector, mining, etc. Recently, Nokia announced a cooperation with Deutsche Bahn, Hamburg, Germany. Both companies will be responsible for developing the world's independent 5G first system for automated railway operations.

The "Hamburg Digital Light Rail" project is part of the German Federal Railways' highly automated track operation project. This will be one of the earliest applications of 5G for digital railway operations. However, the application of 5G to rail transportation is not new to Nokia. The Finnish company has provided GSM-R systems to railway operators in 22 countries. It is also responsible for network, network security, IoT and analytics solutions to more than 110 operators (including trunks and subways).

According to the plan, the "Hamburg Digital Light Rail" project should achieve highly automated train operations on the 21 km long Light Rail Line by 2021. The end target includes the transmission of train control information through Nokia's 5G network and unmanned shunting of empty trains. The digital trains will also exchange relevant data with the control center over Nokia's 5G network.