Northern: IcoShape

Project Background

Utilising Icomera’s X-Series connectivity platform, the Northern Intelligent Train (an evolution of the Digital Train) involves a range of integrated connected applications which improve the passenger experience, offer enhanced operational efficiency, and provide better safety and security.

For each live Intelligent Train, Icomera acts as Northern’s single point of contact for all onboard systems.

The Challenge of Ever-Growing Data Demand and Cost

Northern’s passenger Wi-Fi service works by utilising the available cellular capacity in the geographical areas its trains pass through, in order to deliver data to those on board. With over 340 trains travelling on its network, and an average of more than half a million users connecting to its Wi-Fi every month, data usage (and, in turn, costs) could quickly begin to add up. What’s more, this data expenditure was largely outside the transport operator’s control, given that the provision of Wi-Fi to rail passengers is mandated in the UK.

Pre-pandemic, as a result of its data usage, the transport operator was expecting to quadruple its data spend. Of course, when Covid hit and lockdowns were enforced, Northern saw a sharp wind-down in data use – But, as lockdowns eased in the summer of 2021, and passengers began to return to public transport, data consumption started to rise steadily again.

Northern also noticed a shift in how its passengers were using the onboard Wi-Fi service; more and more passengers were travelling for leisure, while the shift to hybrid office / home working meant that business travellers were seeking to use the onboard Wi-Fi network in different ways (e.g. for video conferencing).

Delivering a high-quality Wi-Fi service was therefore more vital than ever for overall passenger satisfaction levels in the “new normal”; however, due to the finite bandwidth available from cellular networks, the onboard Wi-Fi connection could quickly become “clogged up” when large numbers of Northern’s passengers were seeking to use the service simultaneously. This could result in a less than optimal Wi-Fi experience for its travellers, if left unchecked.

Given the substantial amount of data that it handles and the rising associated costs, Northern sought a solution which would allow it to (a) control and mitigate its data spend, while (b) still being able to offer the best possible experience for its passengers connecting to the onboard Wi-Fi.

A Successful Trial

To help address these two aims, Icomera deployed its IcoShape solution as part of a competitive trial which Northern ran in 2022.  

By categorising network traffic, IcoShape allowed Northern to gain a deeper understanding of how data was being used, and to take the appropriate action. It was possible to monitor and analyse whether data spend was coming from passenger services or from operational systems, for instance.

Northern was able to configure Wi-Fi usage rules using a web-based graphical interface integrated within ICONIC, Icomera’s cloud-based monitoring software tools. Data traffic streams could be prioritised, throttled, or blocked depending on their level of importance, to better manage data usage and costs. For example, traffic for critical onboard systems such as digital video surveillance or real-time journey information could be prioritised, while still delivering the best possible Wi-Fi for Northern’s passengers.

Importantly, IcoShape’s deployment resulted in no detrimental impact to passenger satisfaction levels; in fact, Northern saw an improvement in the overall passenger experience because it could provide a fairer, more reliable Wi-Fi service for all (as opposed to a small number of passengers “hogging” the available bandwidth).

Northern experienced a 10x return-on-investment using IcoShape, as well as achieving an average 20% reduction in its data consumption.

Fleet-wide IcoShape Deployment

As a result of the trial’s success, Northern selected Icomera to roll-out IcoShape fleet-wide; this was a simple task given that Icomera’s connectivity solution allows for over-the-air deployment, in the click of a button.

Icomera continues to work closely with Northern to leverage IcoShape’s different use-cases, and to align the tool’s feature roadmap to the transport operator’s business goals.

In a further sign of the project’s accomplishments, Northern has championed IcoShape as a traffic shaping solution when participating in a UK-wide task group set-up to investigate services and best practices that can be implemented to create a more efficient railway network.

What Northern Say: