Source Link: mediacaster

Internet Wi-Fi services on VIA Rail Canada trains running between Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City are provided by 21Net, a European Internet operator specializing in broadband Internet access to trains via satellite communications.

This follows an agreement between Parsons and 21Net, and validated by VIA Rail Canada, whereby the services operated by Parsons since November 2006 will be transferred to 21Net.

Since 2004, 21Net has been working with leading European train companies (Renfe in Spain, SNCF in France, Thalys International) and the European Space Agency to demonstrate the technical and commercial pertinence of offering broadband Internet on trains via a bi-directional satellite link and to pioneer key advances in this technology and the Internet service provisioning to train passengers.

“21Net’s combination of railway certified high gain bi-directional satellite antenna and advanced dynamic bandwidth assignment technologies provides a robust, proven, and economic solution,” said Henry Hyde-Thomson, Chairman of 21Net. “We are extremely proud to have been selected by VIA Rail and Parsons to take over the Internet operations and propose expansions of the services to both VIA Rail and its passengers, thus contributing to VIA’s commitment to quality services towards its customers.”

21Net has already demonstrated its unmatched capabilities with the delivery of broadband Internet on the Thalys fleet running between Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne, and Paris in collaboration with Nokia Siemens Networks and Telenet, the company describes.

Since its commercial launch in May 2008, the service, known as ThalysNet, is now fully deployed on the Thalys fleet. Already, more than 60.000 Thalys passengers have used the broadband Internet connection while traveling at 300 km/hr across four European countries – Belgium, The Netherlands, France, and Germany. Nine out of ten interviewed ThalysNet users have evaluated the service as “good” or “very good”.

Starting in December 2008 in France, the 21Net solution is now deployed onboard mooviTER, the communicating and innovative intercity train of SNCF (French National Railway Operator), providing Broadband Internet access to TER passengers.

21Net is a European operator who established the world’s first bi-directional satellite communications system capable of delivering high speed Internet to high speed trains. Initially sponsored by the European Space Agency, 21Net was the first provider to technically demonstrate the provisioning of broadband Internet on a high speed train, in 2004.

Since 2004, 21Net has been working closely with leading railway operators RENFE, THALYS, and SNCF to develop a robust and technically mature system.

21Net is committed to providing a great user experience with high data rates and seamless connectivity based on bi-directional satellite communications integrated with terrestrial wireless solutions for stations and tunnels. Its “Broadband To Trains” system is the only productized system capable of providing true broadband connectivity to high speed trains.

Source Link: By Chris Vander Doelen, Windsor Star

Windsor will get a new or at least upgraded Via Rail station out of the new budget.

Essex MP Jeff Watson said he had not heard how much money will be available for the Windsor project but $407 million in cash has been set aside in Budget 2009 for “infrastructure and other capital improvements.”

The big ticket item in the rail budget items will be building a third track to fix bottlenecks in passenger train travel between Toronto and Montreal.

The “triple-tracking” at key locations is expected to cut 30 minutes off the trip and permit the addition of two express trains per day on the congested corridor, the federal government says.

The rest of the funding will be used “to modernize Via Rail Canada’s fleet of locomotives and passenger cars, and to upgrade key stations in Windsor, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Hamilton, and Belleville,” according to the budget.

Watson said he did not know how the money would be allocated between the locations.

Budget 2009 also sets aside an additional $28 million over five years for Ottawa’s rail Grade Crossing Improvement Program, aimed at “improving safety at public grade crossings across Canada.”

cvanderdoelen@thestar.canwest.com, or 519-255-6852.

Source Link: The Canadian Press

MONTREAL — Transportation experts don’t believe the federal government’s small budgetary nod to public transit will help Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) offset a forecast slide in its aerospace business.

Transit will compete with roads and other priorities for the $4 billion earmarked for infrastructure upgrades and only a portion of the spending is expected to be directed at the purchase of train cars.

Another $407 million provided to Via Rail will upgrade tracks and several train stations.

Neither allocation will help the Montreal-based company weather the global economic storm, analysts said Friday.

With 75 per cent of its rail revenues coming from Europe and its headquarters based in Berlin, Bombardier Transportation is looking to harness stimulative efforts in Europe and emerging countries outside North America.

“Canada is almost inconsequential for them,” said Cameron Doerksen of Versant Partners.

Doerksen said there wasn’t any expectation in the investment community that Bombardier would see significant benefits from the Canadian budget.

With a backlog at the end of the last quarter totalling $25.8 billion or 2.5 years, it’s unlikely that stimulative spending would have a major impact on the company anyway, he said in a report.

It would take several years for any contracts awarded today to begin to generate revenue for the company.

While new train orders are positive, the contribution from the business jet market is much more important to Bombardier’s overall profitability.

Business aircraft account for 27 per cent of total revenues compared to 50 per cent from transportation, but are believed to make up 44 per cent of operating earnings compared to only 35 per cent for transportation, Doerksen said.