The new Gotthard base tunnel operates with Tetrapol technology from Airbus Defence and Space
After the inauguration of the longest railway tunnel in the world, Tetrapol professional mobile radio enhances safety.
The world’s longest railway tunnel, Switzerland’s Gotthard Base Tunnel, uses the Polycom radio communication system which is based on Tetrapol technology from Airbus Defence and Space. Due to the tunnel’s length of 57 kilometers, a secure and stable radio communication system is vital to coordinate the work of emergency services in the event of a technical failure or fire incident.
The police, first responders and ambulance services use the system in the Gotthard tunnel, along with firefighters and Swiss Federal Railways rescue trains. Polycom is a secure nationwide radio communication system for public rescue and safety organisations as well as for operators of critical infrastructures. Polycom covers Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Before the inauguration in the first week of June 2016, the two single-track tunnels had been equipped with the Polycom system. Each tunnel tube has a Polycom radio communication system consisting of two overlapping cells for both tubes. Each cell works independently and is based on nine radio transceiver stations. Coverage in the tunnel is ensured by a radiating feeder cable that receives the radio signal from two directions. Communication would thus be possible on both sides even if parts of the system were damaged by fire.
The tunnel itself is breaking records: trains run at high speed through the tunnel which is located up to 2,300 meters below the surface. After ten years of construction, the Gotthard Base Tunnel system is the world’s longest and deepest railway tunnel. It connects Northern and Southern Europe and is the heart of the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA).
The construction of the tunnel is managed by AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd, while engineering, installation and commissioning of the Polycom system was managed by Atos Switzerland.
