Customer Success Story
Airport Railroad Express enhances commuter experience with an all-IP communications network
South Korea’s Airport Railroad Express (AREX) has set the foundation for an enhanced commuter experience and uncompromised safety standard with a modern, flexible network from Juniper Networks. In an era where a state-of-the-art communication system is paramount, AREX has built the nation’s first all-IP communications network.
1st
domestic railway in Korea to rely on an all-IP based communications network
260,000
Commuters a day use the high-speed rail line connecting the busy international airport to metropolitan Seoul
14
Stations operate along this railway
63.8km
The railway stretches from Incheon Airport, a major gateway to the rest of Asia, into the heart of the Seoul city center
Building South Korea’s first all-IP network
AREX is the only airport-specialized commuter railway in Korea connecting Incheon International Airport, one of the best and busiest airports in the world, with metropolitan Seoul. Used by 260,000 travelers daily, the railway is an integral part of the country’s public transportation system, and prides itself on upholding the highest standards in safety and customer satisfaction.
To ensure operational efficiency and safety, the railway controllers and facility operators need mission-critical data from systems across signaling, supervisory control and data acquisition, video surveillance, and wired and wireless networks. AREX wanted to further strengthen operational efficiency and keep up with its growing network infrastructure needs.
"Juniper’s solutions played an important role not only in upgrading the airport railway network, but also in providing additional expansion, improved performance, bandwidth utilization, reduced network congestion, and improved end-user experience," says a spokesperson for AREX.
Securing a foundation for IoT infrastructure
To ensure seamless commuter rail service, AREX introduced Juniper Networks® MX960 and MX104 Universal Routing Platforms, along with Juniper Networks EX9200, EX4600, and EX3400 Ethernet Switches. These platforms are used in the networking control office of AREX’s transmission facility, server farm, and as access switches in the station facilities.
The MPLS network uses VPN to securely integrate wired and wireless networks, enabling efficient network deployment and strengthening security and stability. The network also provides redundant routes and sufficient bandwidth for business agility. AREX can easily expand its infrastructure to enhance passenger convenience and strengthen safety based on future IoT adoption.
"We have made significant improvements in terms of operational and fault management by establishing an integrated system that unifies communication protocols, configuration, performance, and various facility maintenance systems. With a Juniper network, we have a foundation to better utilize the RAMS system," says an AREX official.
A single infrastructure to support all railway operations
The all-IP network, which is the heart of the railway system, integrates a variety of networks, including telecom network (PSTN) circuits and wireless networks. It processes all voice, data, and multimedia content based on packets for fast and cost-effective data services. With simultaneous use of the existing low-speed line and the software-driven ultra-high-speed line, the network creates a foundation for scalability and network innovation.
“This project will be the core for the system implementation that we will be pursuing in the future. Juniper has provided stable technology for AREX to maintain uninterrupted service throughout the project, as well as the ability to use existing and upgraded network systems concurrently. We are open to exploring Juniper's transformative solutions for future upgrade projects,” an AREX spokesperson says.
The Products
MX960
The SDN-enabled MX960 Universal Routing Platform is a high performance, carrier-grade, multiservice edge platform with unprecedented scale for service provider and cloud applications. The MX960 enables inline MACsec support without performance penalties on 10, 40 GbE and 100 GbE, and delivers 12 Tbps of system capacity in a 12 slot chassis supporting dense 100 GbE, 400 GbE interfaces. Similar to the other MX Series Universal Router Platforms, the MX960 has extensive carrier-grade capabilities.
EX9200
The EX9200 line of Ethernet switches provides a programmable, flexible, and scalable foundation for delivering mission-critical applications.
EX4600
The EX4600 Ethernet Switch offers a compact, highly scalable, high-performance 10GbE solution for enterprise campus distribution deployments as well as low-density data center top-of-rack environments.
EX3400
The EX3400 line of Ethernet switches are a cost-effective solution for today’s most demanding converged data, voice, and video enterprise access networks.
Published May 2021