The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) has issued a tender for Galileo-enabled receivers to be included in Prague tramways as part of a modernization plan to increase network efficiency and improve user experience.
Prague has one of the largest tram fleets in Europe. The city's tramways are using a 20-year old system based on GPS-only. DPP has decided on a unique upgrade of their system to improve localization accuracy and provide vehicle positioning data to passengers. DPP Prague plans to buy Galileo-enabled, multifrequency, multiconstellation receivers for its entire tramway vehicle park. To develop the project, DPP cooperated with the Czech Technical University in Prague, the Czech Department for Transportation, the Municipality of Prague and the European GNSS Agency (GSA). The improvement in localization accuracy connected with the upgrade will bring important efficiency benefits to the DPP network such as a decrease in maintenance costs.
Satellite navigation in practice
"Space applications have a great potential for improving efficiency and safety across a wide variety of sectors and transport belongs to the largest users of space technologies. Galileo adoption in Prague tramways is a great example how to apply European satellite navigation in practice," said Karel Havlíček, Deputy Prime Minister, Czech Republic.
The receivers are planned to be deployed in the entire tram fleet (838 receivers are procured). DPP will be one of the first public transit companies to use Galileo in their entire fleet.
Read the Czech version here: Přijímače Galilea brzy v pražských tramvajích
"Public transport has to be comfortable and user friendly not only inside the vehicles and at the stops. We managed to provide real-time data about bus departures and their position on-line to passengers. For this year, we have promised to provide the same also for the tramways," said Adam Scheinherr, Deputy Mayor for Transport from the Municipality of Prague.
"Thanks to the new receivers and the possibility to use the European navigation system Galileo, we will be able to improve localization accuracy based on the tests that have been carried out so far down to 1.5 meters. Further, it will allow us to improve other systems used within DPP such as, for example, automatic speed limitation over the switches," added Petr Witowski, chairman of the board and executive director of DPP.
"Regarding the network extent and the quality of the transport service provided, Prague belongs to the top cities in the European Union. It shows therefore the recognition of Galileo efficiency that DPP plans to use Galileo within the whole tramway fleet as one of the first public transport operators in Europe," commented Pascal Claudel, Acting Executive Director of the European GNSS Agency.
DPP is expecting that the tender will be completed by the end of August 2020. The selected supplier will have to provide and install the receivers within the entire fleet of Prague tramways within 180 days from the contract signature. It is therefore expected that the First Galileo-enabled trams should be on track at the end of 2020.
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