Leading Digital Infrastructure to Accelerate Rail Intelligence in APAC

Nicholas Ma

President of Huawei Asia Pacific Enterprise Business Group

The Asia-Pacific region, marked by rapid urban expansion and population growth, stands at the forefront of global economic advancement. Rail transport is uniquely positioned in this wave of transformation, serving as the backbone for sustainable development. As cities grow and traffic increases, the need for green, sustainable, and reliable rail solutions is more pressing than ever.

Streamlined and efficient transport systems are crucial for reducing congestion and minimizing environmental impacts. Countries in the region are actively developing smart transportation systems, with several impressive rail projects already launched. These include China’s world’s longest high-speed rail network, Malaysia's East Coast Rail Link, Thailand's Bangkok-Nong Khai High-Speed Rail, the communication upgrade of Hong Kong's MTR, and Singapore's Cross Island Line, among others. Most recently, in the Jakarta-Bandung Rail project in Indonesia, Huawei successfully delivered the communication system for the country's inaugural high-speed railway.

Next-Generation Connectivity, Cloud and AI are Revolutionizing Rail Transport

In the physical world, railways, subways, highways, urban roads, and waterways connect various terminals and hubs, such as airports, seaports, and stations. In the digital world, advanced ICT technologies facilitate the seamless flow of information across different IT systems. This integration enhances passenger and cargo flow across diverse transportation modes, thereby improving passenger experiences, reducing logistics costs, realizing Mobility as a Service, and fostering economic and social growth.

From advanced signalling and smart infrastructure to predictive maintenance and real-time passenger updates, data-driven technologies are reshaping the railway sector.

First, next-generation connectivity will build a solid foundation for rail intelligence. Next-generation connectivity such as Data Communication, All-Optical networks, and Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) can offer higher bandwidth, lower latency, and wider coverage for all railway services, train dispatching, train control, PIS, CCTV, driverless systems, IoT, and others, making train operations more secure, efficient, and intelligent.

Secondly, Moving Rail systems to the Cloud is a trend, that will effectively transform the traditional approach of scattered IT resources for siloed systems, meaning cloud-based, shared utilization of IT resources plus centralized O&M can significantly reduce investment and improve efficiency.

Thirdly, the use of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data will help accelerate service data convergence, maximize data value, support intelligent service development, and make production management more efficient.

Huawei is Committed to Providing Cutting-Edge Intelligent Solutions for the Railway Industry

As a world-leading ICT provider, Huawei has developed a wide range of products and solutions for rail transportation, including urban rail cloud, smart passenger transport solutions, smart Operations and Maintenance (O&M), and railway perimeter detection.

As we reach this critical juncture in today’s technological transformation, we are dedicated to propelling the future of multimodal transportation forward with our state-of-the-art solutions.

i.  FRMCS as A Key Wireless Technology to Accelerate Rail Intelligence

As GSM-R approaches the end of its lifecycle, FRMCS is set to define the future. With railways expected to operate for many decades, a future-oriented technology like FRMCS is essential. Offering greater bandwidth and higher quality of service, FRMCS will enable a range of value-added including multimedia dispatching, onboard CCTV, and real-time O&M data.

ii.  Build a Fast, Reliable, and Intelligent Backbone Network

There are different services in the railway industry requiring different QoS requirements. Huawei's IP slicing technology can allocate different slices for different services, ensuring each service's specific requirements are met. Huawei also offers exclusive 50GE/100GE auto-sensing interfaces to significantly reduce current investment costs while ensuring support for 100G over the next decade.  

iii.  Railway Perimeter Protection: Multi-technology for Perimeter Intrusion Detection

Previously, railway perimeter protection relied heavily on manual checks, which were labor-intensive and costly. Using a single technology, such as radar-only or CCTV-only, often resulted in inaccurate alarms, especially under extreme weather conditions. Huawei's railway perimeter solution combines fiber vibration detection and AI camera technologies in one system. For example, the optical-vision-linked solution detects vibrations with optical fiber and re-checks them with a camera, significantly improving alarm accuracy, with nearly zero missed alarms and very few false alarms.

Additionally, this solution features a self-learning process, allowing it to adapt to different scenarios. For instance, in countries with windy and stormy conditions, the AI algorithm can learn to distinguish between vibrations caused by weather and those caused by people or animals. Over time, this self-learning capability enhances the accuracy of the alarms, improving overall reliability.

Huawei is a key contributor of 5G patents in 3GPP, a key member of the ETSI FRMCS workgroup, and regularly collaborates with the UIC to accelerate FRMCS standards development. Huawei has established long-term partnerships with global partners, and our comprehensive end-to-end (E2E) ICT portfolio spans wireless, optical, and IP technologies, covering the entire information flow from the terminal, and connectivity, to cloud and AI. Our approach significantly enhances the potential for collaboration across different products to support E2E Quality of Service (QoS) for various services.

Over the past 30 years, Huawei has served more than 150,000 km of railways for over 50 railway operators worldwide. Our cutting-edge technologies have been implemented on over 300 urban rail lines in more than 70 cities globally.

Jointly Accelerating Digital and Intelligent Transportation Development in APAC

Huawei is committed to contributing to the railway industry and working with partners to provide innovative solutions to help rail operators achieve their targets. Our focus is not only on infrastructure and technology but also on the people we serve. Supporting our rail operator customers to enhance the passenger experience through seamless ticketing, improved comfort, and real-time information is essential. Our goal is to make rail travel not just a mode of transportation, but a preferred and enjoyable experience for all.

Together with our customers and partners, we are committed to building a digital and intelligent foundation for comprehensive transportation and logistics, enabling smooth operations throughout supply and industry chains, and accelerating transportation development across the APAC region.