The Background
The Philippine National Railways has a 40 km urban rail transit line being rehabilitated in Metro Manila. The line runs from Tutuban, Manila in the north and Alabang, Muntinlupa in the south. It includes 17 stations, along with the restoration of several existing stations.
The Philippine National Railways is responsible for train management and operations in the North (Clark, Pampanga) and confirm passenger services on the new route and down in Legazpi City in the South of Luzon.
The Challenge
The main task was to upgrade the existing communication system, which was an outdated analog system and be able to conform with the government digitalization and modernization program. Upgrading the communications will systematically allow PNR to be able to manage modern applications GPS, Dispatch Center, Network Management impacting the efficiency of the railway operations.
The Solution
Hytera was chosen to upgrade the analog communication system with a new digital TETRA radio network featuring a number of base stations. The Hytera TETRA digital technology with terminals PT580H and MT680, provide a much louder and clearer voice quality compared with the previous analog radio system.
The Hytera DWS trunking dispatching system combined with the Hytera Network Management System enables PNR dispatchers to manage all the radios and track the location of the users remotely. The DWS supports group, individual and emergency calls.
DWS also delivers enhanced functionality such as dynamic group number assignment (DGNA), group patching, and discrete listening (monitoring). In addition to the voice functionality, the DWS also supports the sending and receiving of short messages and status updates.
Hytera also implemented its DS-6610 MPUC (Mini Professional Unified Communication) solution, which provides a gateway to integrate the new TETRA radio system with existing analog radio users, thereby expanding the radio usage and signal coverage area.
The Results
Hytera helped Philippine National Railways expand its communications network through the deployment of a modern digital TETRA radio network. Hytera's seamless communication network enables reliable communications between train drivers, management, dispatchers and maintenance staff, which ensures faster coordination among the team. Personnel is able to hear each other clearly with lower disturbances from other frequencies. Hytera's digital TETRA system also improves their service levels and delivers them much more efficient daily operation.
