Connect Project

Connect Project
Type	Train radio
Standard	Terrestrial Trunked Radio
Area	London Underground
Owner	Citylink
Operator	Citylink
Manufacturer	Motorola
Users	Transport for London
Opened	February 2006

The Connect Project is a project name for a radio communications system developed for Transport for London. The system will introduce Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) technology to the London Underground.

Overview

The Connect Project's intention was to "connect" all the London Underground staff via a Radio and Telephone network. Before Connect each line would have its own radio system. Some lines such as the Northern Line were recently upgraded to a radio system which covered all areas, while other lines had aging radios that failed often and provided poor coverage.

The Connect project contract was signed in late 1999 and work was due to be complete as early as the end of 2002. Many people would argue as to the real reasons for the delay but the main delay is because the radio equipment needed to be installed on an ageing railway infrastructure in a safe way with no disruption to the operational railway. This means for example tunnel work can only take place when a safe system of work has been agreed and there are no trains running (a 4 hour window each night called Engineering Hours).

Every frontline LUL staff and all trains are supplied with the Tetra Digital Radio. This radio technology allows more users to use the same number of frequencies by use of digital multiplexing among other benefits. Integrating the emergency services is a requirement from the report arising from the Kings Cross fire disaster. e.g. Fire staff must be able to contact each other and LUL staff during an incident in a tunnel or station by use of a radio (Airwave). So principally the Connect Project is a private, secure, mobile radio system. It's internal to staff and emergency staff.

Private Finance Initiative

London Underground procured 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 were due firstly to the fact that many of the existing radio and transmission systems were beginning to reach the end of their useful lives and required replacement. Secondly, the legacy systems no longer provided 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 were 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, bringing benefits to both the customers and staff of London Underground.

The East London Line was chosen as the first line to receive the TETRA radio as it was the second smallest of the lines and is a mix of surface and sub surface. The rolling stock is also used on the Metropolitan Line. The TETRA network has been in use on the East London Line since February 2006 and the final line, the Northern was handed over in November 2008.

Citylink

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 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 Group (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.
Various subcontractors have been used to do the install work. The two main firms being Brookvex and Fentons.

TETRA is not test-bed; it is in and working in Copenhagen and Oslo, with the Netherlands, Singapore and 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.

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 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 in the past only carried 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. 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 impact of Connect the internal philosophy is that Connect is driven by the needs of the operational railway and its justification is crucial.

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.^{[citation needed][clarification needed]}

Also 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.

All LUL lines are now working on the new Connect radio and transmission systems, with the final line handed over at the end of 2008. Reliability is at an all time high now that all the project issues have been ironed out and the system is settling down to be a reliable and useful addition to the LUL operational railway.

The Airwave basestations have all been installed ahead of program.

Problems

After some initial teething problems on the radio system, the project issues have now been ironed out and the system is proving to be a reliable network which is a vast improvement on the aged legacy systems it replaced. Major system failures are few and far between.

Control

The Connect Network is controlled from 11 core sites at various stations on the Underground. The main infrastructure is Motorola Centracom.

The Network Management Centre (NMC) is at Thale's site in Waterloo (South East London). Each Line Controller at Line Control Centres has a Despatcher Terminal to talk to Trains. Station Staff use a combination of Fixed Mobile Units and Handportable radios.

References

External links

• Article on the Connect Project at Mobile/Cellular Technology website