ORing Industrial Networking, a leading Taiwanese brand in industrial networking solutions, announced that its 5G onboard mobile communications solution has been successfully deployed in Belgium’s public transportation system. The solution is supporting De Lijn in accelerating the upgrade of its onboard IT architecture, significantly enhancing communication stability, operational efficiency, and passenger service quality across its bus and tram fleets. The project highlights the growing global impact of Taiwan’s industrial communication technologies in the smart transportation sector.

As real-time positioning, driver information systems, passenger information displays, onboard surveillance, and passenger flow analytics became more widely deployed, De Lijn’s previously fragmented and standalone onboard communication systems gradually turned into operational bottlenecks. At the same time, the transition from legacy 3G networks to newer mobile technologies required a complete rethink of its onboard IT framework.

In response, De Lijn launched its “IT on board” initiative, guided by three core principles: developing a forward-looking architectural blueprint for onboard IT, implementing the transformation in phases, and using ITxPT specifications as the foundation for design and integration. By adhering to standardized frameworks, De Lijn was able to avoid the integration challenges and maintenance burdens caused by incompatible protocols and siloed systems.

Under the new architecture, all onboard devices are interconnected through a unified IP network and share core services such as time synchronization and GNSS positioning. Real-time data exchange between vehicles and the central operations center ensures that driving information, vehicle status, and passenger-related data are transmitted instantly to backend systems. This real-time visibility provides the foundation for improving on-time performance, optimizing dispatch management, and enhancing the overall passenger experience.

To meet the high reliability and long operating-hour demands of public transportation, ORing proposed its proven industrial-grade 5G onboard communication solutions for deployment across De Lijn’s bus and tram fleets, providing a key building block for the new IT architecture.

For buses, De Lijn deployed ORing’s IGAR-1004-D5G 5G cellular router. The device complies with ECE R10 certification requirements and supports dual-mode 5G and LTE connectivity, along with multiple WAN interfaces to integrate various onboard systems. Its dual SIM failover mechanism maintains stable connections even when mobile network quality fluctuates, ensuring uninterrupted transmission of vehicle positioning, driving data, and operational information.

For trams, ORing supplied industrial-grade 5G routers compliant with EN50155 railway standards. Designed for high reliability, these units feature M12 connectors for secure connections and stable performance in vibration-prone and harsh environments. Like the bus deployment, they support dual-mode 5G and LTE communication and dual SIM redundancy to ensure continuous real-time transmission of operational and positioning data.

Beyond communication reliability, managing a large fleet at scale presents its own challenges. ORing’s onboard devices come with a built-in Zabbix Agent and are integrated with a backend Zabbix monitoring platform to enable centralized device monitoring and asset management. Leveraging a scalable and highly flexible open-source architecture, operations teams can monitor in real time the online status of communication modules, firmware versions, last known locations, and abnormal events.

ORing emphasized that the core value of the project lies not only in deploying 5G communication equipment, but in combining an ITxPT-based standardized architecture with Zabbix-enabled visualized operations management to build a data-driven and future-ready onboard communications ecosystem. Through a standardized IP framework and centralized monitoring, De Lijn has transformed from a tightly coupled, system-centric structure into a data-centric, scalable smart public transportation platform.

Looking ahead, ORing will continue advancing its industrial 5G, onboard communications, and smart transportation solutions, helping public transit systems worldwide build safer, more efficient, and future-oriented operations on a foundation of standardization, real-time connectivity, and high reliability.