Connect Project
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The London Underground is introducing a new radio system, known as the Connect Project. It will introduce mobile phone technology to the London Underground and is able to allow phone usage in stations. The District Line will be the first line to receive the beta, with the other lines receiving it after the beta on the District Line and then the District Line will receive it last.
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London Underground is currently procuring via the UK government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI) the replacement of its existing train, station and depot radio systems with a single trunked private mobile radio system and the installation of a new fibre optic transmission network which will support services such as telephony, customer/staff information systems and IT as well as a video transmission network with capability to serve all operational sites. The main drivers for the Project are due firstly to the fact that many of the existing radio and transmission systems are beginning to reach the end of their useful lives and require replacement. Secondly the existing systems no longer provide the functionality and types of service required for a modern mass transit railway serving a large urban area such as London. The Connect Project aims to provide a fully integrated communications system which will serve London Underground well into the 21st century and support new types of services and more efficient ways of working which will bring benefits to both the customers and staff of London Underground
The expected timetable for lines going live with TETRA is: East London 30 Aug 05. District 21 Feb 06. H&C 21 Feb 06. Bakerloo 6 June 06. Jubilee 30 June 06. Picadilly 8 July 06. Central 25 July 06. Metropolitan 5 Sept 06. Waterloo and City 24 Sept 06. Northern 4 Nov 06. Victoria 31 Dec 06.
The East London Line was chosen as the first line to receive the TETRA radio as it is the smallest of the lines. The TETRA network has been in use on the East London Line since February 2006 and will be rolled out on the H&C line next, closely followed by the District. Hammersmith to Paddington is commissioned and live, though not in use at the moment. The District Line is planned to be in full use by August 2006. In all probability the last lines to use the TETRA radio will be the Jubilee as it was only updated with the extension, and the Northern Line which has only had its new radio since 2005. The Victoria Line will get new train stock in 2007 and it is unlikely that the builders will want to fit legacy radio systems into the cabs for it to be used alonside TETRA for a short while.
Without the required £450 million capital investment available from government funds to do the work on a traditional install and commission system, Connect has had to be underwritten with private investment. It is funded under a private financial initiative through a consortium (special purpose vehicle name “Citylink”), who undertake to devise, procure, construct and maintain Connect for an initial 20 year period.
The supply contract was finally signed in November 1999 and sadly Connect is not British. America and France hold the purse, with Motorola as the radio provider alongside Thales, although Motorola’s Basingstoke base softens the disappointment. A deciding factor was choosing a company that could deliver a transmission and radio system for LUL that satisfies the exacting and fluid standards of TETRA.
Citylink's shareholders are Thales (33 per cent), Fluor (18 per cent), Motorola (10 per cent), Laing Investment (19.5 per cent) and HSBC (19.5 per cent). The cost of the design, build and maintain contract is £2bn over 20 years.
It would be nice to think that Britain was again leading the global field in technology, but Connect’s technology is not test-bed; it’s in and working in Copenhagen and Oslo, with Holland, Singapore & Hong Kong ready for commissioning. However, it is the largest installation of this technology ever made, anywhere. The cost is significant too – an approximate lifetime cost of £1.2 billion. The new radio transmission network covers the whole of LUL – every single station, depot and office – carrying anything that requires transmission around LUL except signalling. For safety reasons signalling is designed as a stand-alone system.
Currently, the main Lines have 20 radio systems and none of them talks to each other, but, the need is there, whether during an incident or simply because some Lines co-run with each other. Cross-checking across lines is done by telephone, and it works well. The Lines of communication are very clear, but there are obvious benefits of intercommunication between Lines by using radio, allowing that member of staff to be mobile and contactable at all times rather than stuck to a seat. Kings Cross station exemplifies the need for this improved efficiency. With five Lines passing through, in an emergency situation the Station Supervisor must make 4 phone calls and a radio call to announce that he wants to evacuate. It’s quick (about one minute) but under the new Connect system the Supervisor would simply go to his computer screen, press the broadcast button and every single staff member on the station, all the trains and the line controllers would all be told the emergency message at once. A second tangible benefit is direct to the traveller. With the new system, staff will have accurate information available to them when it matters, enabling them to keep customers fully updated – avoiding a major source of frustration for customers and staff alike. Thirdly, staff, who currently only carry personal safety alarms, will be able to secure assistance with a direct radio link to the control centre via the new handsets. This not only adds to their personal safety, but also allows the set up of special incident rooms and improved efficiency in the event of an incident. At present, LUL has had to resort to the use of hand-written notes to pass information between remote locations and a major incident, where staff have no radio communication underground. The new efficiency of Connect is unlikely to instil complacency. A severe culling of the information channel restricts the potential hazards of the wrong people being able to talk to each other, whilst staff are also aware that every call is recorded. Although the traveller is unlikely to be aware of the forthcoming impact of Connect the internal philosophy is that Connect is driven by the needs of the operational railway and its justification is crucial. LUL must prove how they will get value for money from a very expensive radio system for the public who are paying for it.
Commercially the benefits are easily quantified: A train requires radio to operate fully and if the radio doesn’t work, the train is removed from service until it is replaced. A new radio system equals less cancellations and more trains available for the consumer. In fact 99.6% system reliability. Secondly, a typical situation that occurs today takes 6.5 minutes to deal with, which under the new procedure reduces to 2.5 minutes. When dealing with the trains it’s easy to see that every minute counts, both in terms of money and efficiency. Harder to measure is improved customer satisfaction, whose temperature is taken by survey, mystery shoppers and targeted scoring.
Also to be added is an upgrade to allow the O2 Airwave radios in use by the emergency services to be used underground. At present only the British Transport Police (BTP) can use their radios on the Underground. This is despite recommendations made by Mr. Desmond Fennell QC after inquiry into the Kings Cross Underground fire in 1987.
Rather embarrisingly the TETRA trackside cabinets have not been liking the hot weather leading to the equipment overheating , and does not allow for repair or maintenance to be carried out if it is raining , showing up the poor basic design principles.
The District Line was handed over as Live on the morning of 11th October 2006 with the Hammersmith & City Line being handed over on the 8th November 2006. The date for the Metropolitan Line to go live is currently the 11th December 2006. Since going live the radio has been plagued with failures which Thales have been unable to rectify or repair causing delays and cancellations to trains , and with the Victoria line iminant , confidence in the system is falling to an all time low.
The Victoria Line will be handed over as live on the 2nd April 07. Maintainers will be Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS).
Contract signed for Airwave radio coverage on Tube (2nd Feb 2007)
The £115m contract for the Airwave radio network used by police and the emergency services to 'piggy back' on the Tube's new Connect digital radio system has been signed.
It is planned that Airwave will be operational on all Underground lines in 2008.
This will mean that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and other UK police forces including the City of London Police will have Airwave radio coverage at all 125 below ground Underground stations.
British Transport Police (BTP), who have responsibility for policing on the Tube network, currently have radios which work underground.
There are currently long established working arrangements for the MPS and City of London Police to access the Tube network - they will be accompanied by a BTP officer who has a radio which works below ground and if needed will be provided with a BTP radio.
Significant progress has been made to roll-out Connect on the Tube network.
Connect is now live on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and East London Lines.
Connect will be rolled-out across the remainder of the Tube network on a line-by-line basis throughout 2007.
Extra reassurance
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said: "The addition of the Airwave radio network to the new Connect digital radio system, currently being rolled out across the Tube network, is good news for London.
"It will bring added flexibility to the way that emergency services operate underground boosting the Metropolitan and City of London Police response to any incident on the Tube and providing extra reassurance to Londoners."
Tim O'Toole, LU Managing Director, said: "London Underground is meeting its commitments to deliver a new digital radio system for the Tube which can also be accessed by the emergency services."
While the negotiations between London Underground and the various suppliers were taking place, vital groundwork was undertaken to ensure an early and seamless integration of equipment with the Connect radio network.
Delivering benefits
Tim O'Toole continued: "London Underground and the Home Office pre-funded works to facilitate the link-up between Connect and Airwave before this contract was signed because of the benefits it would deliver.
"This will allow the Airwave service to be supplied below ground via the Connect infrastructure that is already in place as quickly as possible."
Airwave will be rolled-out across the Tube network on a line-by-line basis in the same way as Connect is rolled-out.
Airwave radio will go live starting with the East London Line in April 2007.
