Afar Communications Inc. wins bid to supply Wireless Equipment for SEPTA

Santa Barbara, California, April 14, 2007 – Afar Communications announced today that it has been selected to provide 140 of its Wireless Ethernet Bridge and accessories for the upgrade of Southeastern Pensylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Light Rail Tunnel in Philadelphia.   

The system will be upgraded to Bombardier ’s CITYFLO 450  which uses a lossy-line (“leaky feeder”) in tunnel areas to communicate between trackside equipment and trains using 2.4 GHz Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Radios.  Those radios will be provided by Afar Communications and consist of an enhanced version of our standard PulsAR-24027 Wireless Ethernet Bridge .

SEPTA ’s Light Rail Tunnel is 2.5 miles long and contains two main tracks for a total of five track miles.  According to SEPTA’s Deputy Chief Engineer, John LaForce, “The purpose of the project is to install a modern state-of-the-art Positive Train Control system, defined as a Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) to improve safety while maintaining efficient rail car movements.  Ridership in the tunnel is approximately 60,000/day utilizing a fleet of 112 light rail vehicles. The new CBTC system will support 60-70 rail cars/hour with 30+ rail cars normally operating in the tunnel during the worst-case peak hour under the present scheduling. In the event of a delay, the number of rail cars in the tunnel could be much greater than 30, however, the CBTC system will be capable of handling up to 75 rail cars/hr as well as multiple berthing of cars in all stations.”

Afar Communications will deliver the wireless equipment in June 2007 and the system is expected to be in operation, with the Afar radios, before the end of the year.