The SENCITY® Rail ACTIVE Rooftop antenna from HUBER+SUHNER has beaten competition from across the globe to be named ‘most innovative product’ at the 2023 Progressive Railroading Reader’s Choice Awards. The 50,000 readers of Progressive Railroading’s Daily News were asked to rank products submitted by suppliers in terms of innovation, standing out and meeting industry needs.
Developed in partnership with McLaren Applied, the SENCITY® Rail ACTIVE Rooftop antenna is a first-of-its-kind, 5G-ready omni-directional solution, with an integrated edge compute module, Wi-Fi access point, GNSS receiver and cellular radios. Providing power and data via a single ethernet cable, the antenna has been designed to overcome the traditional challenges of railway applications, delivering highly performant connectivity for both on-vehicle data offloading and enhanced passenger Wi-Fi. It is certified for the EN 50155, EN 45545-2 and NFPA-130 standards.
“Our success in the Reader’s Choice Awards serves as a resounding validation of our customer-focused approach, delivering solutions capable of overcoming the unique demands of the railway market”, said Antonio Sequeira, Vice President Strategy & Business Development Railway Market Management at HUBER+SUHNER. “We would like to thank the subscribers of Progressive Railroading for recognizing our achievement with the SENCITY® Rail ACTIVE Rooftop antenna, and we will continue to drive further innovation and advancements within our product portfolios”.
The SENCITY® Rail ACTIVE Rooftop antenna simplifies deployment of train-to-ground systems on trains without the need for RF cabling, instead replacing them with just a single POE cable. The removal of RF cables also means that RF losses are reduced, improving the signal strength to the train and significantly improving the connectivity capability onboard. In addition, the antenna, with its integrated edge computing capability, enables rail operators to remove the need for a standard router in the train itself. As a result, rail operators can deliver reliable communication regardless of environmental factors, saving crucial space, money and overall vehicle weight during installation.
“With HUBER+SUHNER we identified an opportunity to pioneer a new approach to antennas in rail and beyond” said Head of Product and Program Management at McLaren Applied Mark Halliday. “Having worked closely with HUBER+SUHNER on the development of the SENCITY® Rail ACTIVE Rooftop antenna, we are delighted our success in advancing antenna technology has been acknowledged within the industry. Both McLaren Applied and HUBER+SUHNER share a commitment to enhancing the rail solutions available to operators, and we look forward to further collaborations in the future”.
Progressive Railroading is the leading magazine for the North American Railroad industry. Published 12 times per year, each issue provides information on trends, technology, and industry news covering all disciplines of the railroad market. The Reader’s Choice Awards program is designed to highlight products that best meet the rail industry’s needs, as selected by their subscribers.
