Public Transport

• As of 31 January 2025, Josef Kutschi will take over as Managing Director of Frequentis Comsoft 
• He will succeed Constantin von Reden, who will be leaving the Frequentis Group

With over 18 years of experience in the aviation and aerospace industry, Josef Kutschi has built a solid foundation in management roles across the satellite industry, air traffic management, and civil aviation. Before joining Frequentis, he held various management positions in these fields and worked for several years in the Middle East. 

Josef Kutschi joined Frequentis in 2019 as Sales Director ATM Middle East and was appointed Managing Director of Frequentis Middle East in January 2020. In this position, he was responsible for market development, sales, and customer service in the areas of Air Traffic Management (ATM), Defence, and Public Safety in the Middle East. 

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• The Austrian tourist train Schneebergbahn has received an advanced digital communication system to improve operational capabilities
• Frequentis’ solution will ensure seamless and streamlined mission-critical communications over 4G mobile networks

“It is really inspiring to be working with a partner such as NÖVOG, implementing the same cutting-edge technology which forms the basis for the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS),” says Tom Karl, Frequentis Vice President Public Transport. “By enabling trains to communicate over standardised 4G, with an added security layer, we lessen the need for expensive infrastructure. Frequentis is also part of the European transition to FRMCS and we are pleased to be driving railway communication digitalisation forward, even 1800 metres up.”

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• ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG is testing Frequentis MCX (Mission Critical Services) in the Austrian rail network to prepare for the transition to the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS)
• The aim is to deliver an MCX system that provides equivalent performance to a live implementation 

“It is really inspiring to be working with ÖBB, implementing the same advanced technology that forms the basis for the FRMCS,” says Tom Karl, Frequentis Vice President Public Transport. “Frequentis is also part of the European transition to FRMCS and we are pleased to be driving railway communication digitalisation forward.”

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• Frequentis delivers SBB a rail communication system with a next-generation platform for 
  improved coordination across the Swiss rail network
• The new system platform follows the FRMCS target architecture and will replace the 
  existing communication system in control centres

“We are proud to continue our collaboration with SBB, a relationship that has spanned nearly 20 years,” 
says Thomas Karl, Vice President Frequentis Public Transport. “The new system will support SBB’s rail 
operations well into the next decade and underscores our commitment to providing best-in-class 
solutions to world-leading railways.”

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• Effective 1 August 2024, Marcel Haar will take over the management of Frequentis Germany
• He follows Reinhard Grimm, who is now responsible for the global ATM Civil business as Executive Vice President

“Germany is a strategically important country for Frequentis. It is our goal to further expand our business in Germany in the coming years and to increase our brand awareness. With Marcel Haar, we have a manager who can leverage his profound international experience in the areas of sales, marketing, and business development,” says Norbert Haslacher, CEO Frequentis. 

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After almost 40 years with Frequentis, ten of them as Managing Director of Frequentis France, Mikhael Matar has decided to retire. He will be succeeded by Sébastien Esteve.

“Mikhael Matar is responsible for the successful growth of Frequentis in France. In 2023 we won our largest global rail project, the nationwide communication system contract for French railway company SNCF. We would like to thank Mikhael for his long-standing commitment and great achievements and wish him all the best for his retirement,” says Frequentis CEO Norbert Haslacher. “We welcome Sébastien Esteve to Frequentis, who brings a profound level of expertise with sales and account management, handling large-scale IT projects and contracts in the aerospace business. We wish him every success in his role as Managing Director of Frequentis France”.

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From now on drone garages will be distributed along the ÖBB’s rail network to provide valuable support: as the first infrastructure company in Europe, ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG has obtained the authorisation to use drones that can be operated also without direct visual contact with the pilots. In close cooperation with Frequentis and supported by Austro Control, this innovative project was realised. Instead of sending employees on foot into hazardous, impassable terrain or snow-covered slopes, drones will be sent off from a nearby drone garage. They will fly the defined route and send real-time images showing the line’s condition, meaning necessary decisions regarding the next steps can be made immediately. Depending on the case, the use of drones will result in a huge amount of time saved, therefore minimising line closures. Passengers and railway companies can adapt more quickly to the new situation thanks to this rapid development of information.

“Hangar-based drone flights are the technological answer to the strongly growing drone ecosystem. Frequentis has developed a highly automated solution that can be fully integrated into control centres and working positions of big infrastructure companies, as well as being easy to use for our clients’ employees,” says Norbert Haslacher, CEO Frequentis. “We are proud to carry out this pioneering work together with ÖBB and to have helped facilitate the first authorisation of this kind in Europe for our partner.”

Related information:

Arriva Rail London (ARL) has been using the Frequentis Rail Event Management (REM) system to support critical decision making in the event of an incident or service disruption.

The Frequentis REM solution enables workflow-based event management, provides a common operational picture, and enables mobile collaboration. It uses a resolution workflow based on the time, location, and classification of the occurrence of an incident to instantly identify and connect internal and external stakeholders, while also logging every activity to satisfy legal and reporting requirements. The cost-effective, standard off-the-shelf (COTS) solution can be deployed within a short timeframe. As part of the modernisation of the ARL train control centre, the REM solution was delivered and integrated with the recently deployed IVU.rail control software from IVU Traffic Technologies.

Image © Arriva Rail London