West Midlands pioneers UK’s first 5G connected tram

The development by West Midlands 5G has been hailed as ground-breaking with ‘ultrafast’ technology helping to improve passenger safety and efficiency on the West Midlands Metro.

The transport trial is running in partnership with West Midlands Metro, Transport for West Midlands, GoMedia and Icomera.

5G’s increased bandwidth allows for high-definition CCTV footage captured on the tram to be securely and remotely transferred to the regional traffic control centre while in operation.

Currently the information, along with vehicle performance and maintenance data, has to be accessed and downloaded manually, outside the hours of operation.

This ability to transmit high-levels of data almost instantaneously unlocks opportunities to strengthen passenger safety and has now been proven by WM5G and its partners.

The on-board connectivity would also allow passengers to enjoy live travel updates and the ability to stream on-board entertainment.

Showcase

It will also enable operators to more flexibly manage services to meet passenger demand.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Transport is an integral cornerstone to any region and the West Midlands is breaking new ground in using 5G to develop transport that is fit for the future.”

Matt Warman, Digital Infrastructure Minister at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, added: “The birthplace of the industrial revolution is now at the forefront of the digital revolution with 5G being used to improve efficiency and passenger safety on the West Midlands Metro.

“We have invested £200 million to explore how 5G can be the rocket fuel industries need to build back better and this is just one of a long list of projects to make the most of this ultrafast mobile technology.”

Chris Holmes, programme director of transport at WM5G, said: “This project is a great demonstrator of how 5G can transform the way that public transport services are delivered.

"Our 5G-connected tram is a great showcase for what the future of connected transport could look like across both the West Midlands and beyond.”