AUSTRIAN RAIL’S NEW NIGHTJET IS THE WORLD’S FIRST SLEEPER TRAIN TO USE THE EAO PASSENGER INTERFACE WIRELESS PHONE CHARGERS

The thirteen train fleet of seven carriage Nightjets, built by Siemens Mobility to a new ultra-modern design will start to enter service in 2022 and will each comprise; two seating carriages, three couchette carriages with mini suites for solo travellers and two sleeper carriages with private toilets and showers for deluxe comfort and XL classes.

Passengers will now have access to free WiFi on all Nightjet services so that they can stay connected during their journey and couchette and sleeper carriages will now offer the EAO Passenger Interface mobile phone charging system to ensure their phones can remain charged until the train reaches their final destination.

The Passenger Interface can be used to charge mobile phones using the Qi universal wireless standard compatible with most modern Android and IOS phones and without the need for charging cables.

Phone charging can be accessed in the sleeper units just by placing the phone on the non-slip table mounted charger unit, or by sliding it into the secure wall mounted charger holster which also provides a traditional USB charging socket for older phones, tablets or other devices.

By keeping passenger’s phones charged throughout their journey Austrian Rail provide a much needed improvement for travellers- there is no need for them to conserve power. So they can continue to keep entertained, stay in-touch or work online without any low-battery anxiety.

The charging solution used on the Nightjet trains utilises just a part of the wide range of Passenger Interface devices and adaptors that allow Qi wireless chargers to be fitted to airline style seatbacks either with the Holster, or with the new SliderFLEX portrait / landscape charger.

Table mounted chargers can be fitted to the bottom of a table into a machined recess, or from the top through a round hole using a top mount adapter and can be optionally wired to the table edge to offer an additional USB- A charging socket for a second electronic device, or for older style phones.




The innovative iBeacon passenger location feature can be integrated into the chargers and enables train operators to identify when a seat is occupied. By notifying passengers who use the charger to open the train operator’s travel App, operators can offer additional services such as smart ticketing, trolley service and journey alerts through their App.

The iBeacon uses Bluetooth low energy communications that can broadcast a unique ID for each individual charger which can be used by the Passenger Interface cloud to identify the seat, carriage number and train number and to pass the information to the train operators App.

The Passenger Interface chargers and matching power supplies are fully certified for use on rolling stock to comply with all the relevant standards such as EN50121-3-2 EMC immunity and emissions, EN45455-2 fire safety and EN 61373 shock and vibration.

The Passenger Interface is just one of the innovative products manufactured by EAO a Swiss manufacturer of HMI switches and systems for driver’s cabs, passenger door controls and toilet facilities.

www.eao.com