Scanet is a defunct, analog train radio system used by the

Norwegian State Railways Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...

(NSB) and later the

Norwegian National Rail Administration The Norwegian National Rail Administration ( no, Jernbaneverket) was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic m ...

. The system was developed by Ascom Radiocom and was installed on the primary railways in Norway between 1993 and 1996. The system allows radio communication between a train dispatcher, and train drivers and other users involved in railway operations. Scanet has three main components: the central traffic control, base stations which are located along the railway lines, and mobile station located in the trains. The system is further connected to the internal railway telephone network, where it functions like a regular telephone. Scanet is also connected to the automatic train control system. However, several lines lack the system, including the Arendal Line, the Flåm Line, the

Meråker Line The Meråker Line ( no, Meråkerbanen) is a railway line which runs through the district and valley of Stjørdalen in Trøndelag county, Norway. The line branches off from the Nordland Line at Hell Station and runs eastwards to the Norway–Swed ...

, the Nordland Line, the Rauma Line, the Røros Line, the

Eastern Østfold Line The Eastern Østfold Line ( no, Østfoldbanens østlige linje) is a railway line which runs between Ski and Sarpsborg. It follows a more eastern route than the Østfold Line, with which it adjoins at both Ski Station and Sarpsborg Station, serving ...

, the northern part of the Gjøvik Line, and several tunnels along the Bergen Line and the Sørlandet Line. The

Åsta accident The Åsta accident was a railway accident that occurred at 13:12:25 on 4 January 2000 at Åsta in Åmot, south of Rena in Østerdalen, Norway. A train from Trondheim collided with a local train from Hamar on the Røros Line, resulting in an exp ...

in 2000 spurred the need to give all parts of the railway coverage with train radio. On these lines, the dispatcher and drivers must communicate using the

Nordic Mobile Telephone NMT (''Nordic Mobile Telephony'') is an automatic cellular phone system specified by Nordic telecommunications administrations ( PTTs) and opened for service on 1 October 1981. NMT is based on analogue technology (first generation or 1G) and ...

(NMT 450) standard, which by 2002 was being planned terminated by

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...

. Scanet was replaced by

Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway GSM-R, Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway or GSM-Railway is an international wireless communications standard for railway communication and applications. A sub-system of European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), it is use ...

(GSM-R) in 2007. The system, delivered by Nokia Siemens Networks, was on time and on budget, and made Norway one of the first countries to fully implement the system throughout Europe. After GSM-R was fully implemented on 1 November, Scanet was gradually closed. The new system has been characterized as simpler to use and giving better audio quality than Scanet.

References

{{Rail transport in Norway Railway signaling in Norway Mobile telecommunications standards Rail transport mobile telecommunications standards Rail transport mobile telecommunications networks

See also

References