Globalsat Group, Inmarsat & Cobham sign multi-year contract to provide Rumo with satellite communications across Brazilian railway network

Globalsat Group, through its Brazilian affiliate Globalsat do Brasil, has signed a multi-year contract with Rumo SA, the largest transport and logistics company in Latin America. In a deal that is set to significantly improve the running of Rumo’s Brazilian rail infrastructure, Globalsat Group will provide a solution leveraging satellite connectivity from Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, and Cobham connectivity terminals. This solution will connect Rumo’s cargo trains, increasing the speed with which goods can be transported across the country and improving the safety of trains, vehicles and the people operating them. Rumo is responsible for managing 14,000km of railway track in Brazil, with the project initially focusing on 2000km of the Northern Railway which connects six key states to the Port of Santos. As most of the tracks pass through remote areas with unreliable or non-existent network coverage, train drivers, railway engineers and transport managers have no way of communicating effectively. As a result, drivers cannot receive live traffic updates and trains cannot progress until they receive updates from the control centre. This causes long delays to trains and creates a variety of logistical challenges as well as increased operational costs.

The first stage of the project will begin in early 2020 and will see Globalsat Group equipping 300 of Rumo’s cargo trains, operating on this section of track, with Cobham EXPLORER 325 Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) terminals, EXPLORER Mobile Gateways and the PRISM PTT+ service, delivering uninterrupted connectivity, even in the most isolated of areas without mobile coverage. This will enable accurate real-time tracking of each train as well as reliable voice and data communication between drivers, maintenance crews and regional control centres. The framework’s intent is to see 1,600 locomotives provisioned with highly reliable BGAN connectivity, ensuring an efficient, profitable and safe railway network.

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