The Highways Agency is an Executive
Agency of the UK’s Department of Transport that’s responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network in England on behalf of the Secretary of State. It currently manages and maintains 34 networks transmitting video, voice and data signals from over 20,000 roadside devices. These devices include emergency telephones, CCTV cameras and variable message signs connected to 32 Police Control Centres serving the nation’s many stretches of motorway.
Over the past 40 years, the existing communications network has evolved to keep up with the expanding motorway system. Out of this expansion was born the National Roads Telecommunications Services (NRTS) project. The aim of the NRTS is to establish a single national approach to the future of the communications network on England’s motorway and trunk-roads networks. The project will initially make use of the existing communications network, and enable it to be upgraded and expanded to provide a nationwide network capable of supporting future needs.
IP-switched CCTV system
Telindus the network services provider has been chosen to design, implement and support an IP-switched CCTV system as part of the NRTS project. This will provide a national digital system linking more than 14,000 message signs, emergency telephones, (initially) 4,000 cameras and traffic monitoring systems to the Highways Agency’s network of traffic control centres.
While primarily designed to provide a road safety monitoring system, it will also give drivers real-time travel information to plan their journeys. In addition, it will create safer roads, thanks to the nationwide distribution of CCTV footage to travel information organisations and the media. It also offers the ability to view all cameras via webcam technology.
The Telindus solution gives the Highways Agency fully-integrated video surveillance, allowing real-time images from the roadside to be viewed and recorded across the entire network. The system gives regional Control Centres greater visibility of the road network over a wider area, resulting in more effective management of the network and allowing an appropriate response to incidents.
Telindus is responsible for the IP-switched video network (CCTV) system along with solution design and third level support over the contract period.
For this project, Telindus is being sub-contracted by Alcatel, the global telecoms solutions provider. Alcatel is acting as telecoms design authority for the GeneSYS consortium, which is managing the project on behalf of the UK Highways Agency. GeneSYS, headed by Fluor (one of the world’s largest publicly-owned engineering, construction and maintenance services organisations) also includes HSBC, Mott McDonald and Peek Traffic.
The surveillance solution
The NRTS solution is an extension of the existing Telindus implementation on the M25 London Orbital project. It’s primarily based on the CellStack product line, which includes the CellStack Centauri codec and the CellStack Centinel network video recorder. The system will be managed by a centralised management software suite running an SQL database, and will include additional bespoke software applications.
A compliant solution is being provided against a strict and challenging Statement of Requirements, which included:
As part of the contract, Alcatel will deploy an end-to-end, managed solution based on 1692 Metrospan Edge coarse wavelength divisions multiplexing platform, 7750 Service Router and OmniOXE voice-over-IP switch. Management of the new backbone network will be ensured by the Alcatel 1350 management suite. Furthermore, Alcatel will provide a software and systems integration service for all operating and business support systems to enable traffic monitoring from a single Network Operating Centre located in Birmingham.
Converged networking solution
Alcatel’s converged optical and IP networking solution will allow the Highways Agency to simplify the network design and optimise the deployment and maintenance costs for a single infrastructure that’s capable of supporting a large variety of specialised sub-systems. This consists of optimised and state-of-the-art optical and multi-service solutions able to provide immediate connectivity to the operator’s main IT sub-systems.
Bringing intelligence to the existing national motorway system, the solution will make a significant contribution to safe roads, reliable journeys and informed travellers by:
The system affords the Highways Agency an innovative, Best-of-Breed solution which due to its scalable architecture will support the continued expansion of the nation’s motorway network.
