Arriva Midlands is benefiting from a major security installation at it’s Shrewsbury bus depot, where NVT’s technology is playing a dual security/Health and Safety-focused role.
Covering an area that stretches from Birmingham to Wrexham and through to Derby and Leicester, Arriva Midlands is a major provider of public bus transport in the midlands region.
Securing both company assets and staff, Arriva Midlands recently embarked upon a major security programme at its newly-built Shrewsbury bus depot. The comprehensive surveillance system’s specification includes Network Video Technologies’ (NVT) PVDTM unshielded twisted pair (UTP) Hybrid Video transmission technology.
Surveillance system installer Mace Midlands began working for Arriva Midlands Ltd when it equipped one of the company’s new build depots with the latest in CCTV technology. This led to subsequent projects at other Arriva depots, updating existing CCTV to match the specification of the new-builds.
Security and high quality images are of premier importance at Arriva Midlands’ bus depots, where buses often carry large amounts of cash back to the depots from their daily fares.
Additionally, the service and maintenance that takes place in the depot’s workshops requires adherence to strict Health and Safety guidelines. High quality CCTV imagery is an effective way of ensuring compliance, and of retrospectively investigating the precise circumstances of any incident.
Picture-perfect specification
“This new specification has proved such a success that Arriva Midlands has been very enthusiastic about rolling it out across more of its depots, including this latest one,” explained Richard Sheard, senior security engineer at Mace Midlands.
“The latest project has seen the installation of CCTV equipment at the Shrewsbury depot, corresponding to the specification of our previous upgrades at Arriva Midlands’ other sites.”
At the Shrewsbury depot, Mace engineers installed 38 650 TV line Videcon AIR4526HG infrared cameras to cover the exterior of the depot building, and 24 600 TV line DSIRHRV/24 infrared cameras to view the interior.
All cameras are connected to multiple Videcon VXH264-16/3000 DVR units using NVT PVDTM (Power, Video and Data) transmission on Cat6 UTP cable.
“We installed NVT NV-216A-PV Power and Video Passive Transceiver units at each of the 38 cameras,” added Sheard. “Images are transmitted back to three NVT NV-1672 16-Channel DigitalEQ Active Receiver Distribution Amplifier Hubs, while power is supplied to all cameras over Cat6 UTP cable runs via multiple NVT NV-16PS10-PVD 16-Channel Power Supply Cable Passive Integrator Hubs. Specifying NVT for this latest Arriva Midlands site was an easy choice, based on our experience of enjoying simple installations and fantastic image quality when used within the previous projects.”
High performance, cost-effective analogue cameras
Sheard went on to state: “From on-site assistance in the system specification stage, to the support we have received from the technical department via the telephone, NVT support has always been no more than a phone call away throughout the project, with nothing being too much trouble. The installation was as smooth and simple to commission as our previous projects for Arriva Midlands, aided by our tried-and-tested specification of proven system components and manufacturers.”
According to Sheard, the use of Cat6 cable and NVT PVDTM transmission is a primary factor in the success of the system.
“Installing Cat6 cable in the building was so simple compared to the installation of coax,” he explained, “and the NVT PVDTM technology allows the use of high performance and cost-effective analogue cameras as opposed to their IP equivalents.”
Additionally, Sheard commented that “the inherent ability of NVT products to reject electrical interference” means that even when he and his colleagues discovered that the electrical contractor had installed the main electrical feed for the depot’s lighting columns in the trunking earmarked for the Cat6 runs, the install was still able to go ahead as planned. “This meant no disruption to the project schedule or the quality of images received by the DVRs.”
In addition, Sheard explained: “Identifying any faults within the cable run is simple using the diagnostic LEDs on the front panel of each hub. This feature ensures quick and error-free installations ensuring any cable fault can be detected and rectified simply and easily without any impact on the programme of works.”
Hybrid CCTV system: best of both worlds
System images from the cameras are transferred to a DVR located within the depot, in the same secure communications room as the NVT transceivers and power supply hubs.
From there, the images are transferred onto Arriva Midlands’ own IT infrastructure, enabling functionality for remote monitoring and creating a truly Hybrid CCTV system, with the best of both worlds performance from combined analogue and digital genres.
“Mace’s specification of NVT PVDTM equipment reduces installation time and cost to the customer, negating the need for an electrical contractor to provide a fused spur at each camera point,” added Sheard. “When we are dealing with over 60 cameras, this adds up to a significant saving.”
Now that the system’s fully commissioned, Arriva Midlands enjoys highly detailed live and recorded CCTV images from the whole of the Shrewsbury depot.
Dave Fryer, the senior CCTV controller for Arriva Midlands, said: “On the exterior of the building, images are used to ensure that only authorised personnel are on-site at any time. Apart from the obvious capital value of our buses, the value of our technicians’ tools and equipment can run into thousands of pounds so it’s our duty to protect them. Additionally, we are handling cash on-site, and take the protection of our assets and employees very seriously.”
Inside the building, cameras cover all aspects of the facility including bus parking areas and the busy maintenance workshops.
“Our Health and Safety procedures are critical to a safe working environment,” stressed Fryer. “Using highly detailed CCTV images helps to ensure that our staff adhere to these procedures at all times, and is vital in providing a detailed visual account of what led to, and what was the result of any incidents on site.”
In conclusion, Fryer said: “We’re delighted at the level of service we have received from Mace throughout this and the other security installations they have handled for us. The NVT-based camera network gives us the reassurances we require, providing highly detailed images that afford the detection or retrospective investigation of any incident at the depot.”
