Light rail heavy security

Mar 1, 2001 12:00 PM

St. Louis's MetroLink light rail system will extend for the first time across the Mississippi River into Illinois in spring 2001. The alignment will feature 11 signalized at-grade crossings, 11 traction power substations, a new 42,800-square-foot maintenance facility, and eight new center platform stations. Seven of the stations will have park-and-ride lots with a total capacity of about 3,500 parking spaces and 41 bus bays.

The $339 million project has been unfolding since preliminary engineering began in 1995. Construction began in March 1998, and is now drawing to a close.

According to the Bi-State agency, a joint commission formed by Missouri and Illinois, security for the extension will be comprehensive and high-tech. SES Co. Inc., Hingham, Mass., is responsible for installing all communications systems associated with the line, including laying the backbone for the fiber optics, as well as peripherals.

Technology used on this latest extension exemplifies how far railroad security has advanced since the days of the “bulls” — heavy-handed rail cops who earned a reputation for limited patience and brutality. While the bulls were often accused of having eyes in the back of their heads, today, closed circuit television actually delivers on the notion.

Bi-State's system has integrated CCTV featuring Vicon fixed and pan-and-tilt cameras. Officials will be able to monitor stations and parking lots along the 17-mile extension from a central control facility in St. Louis.

“We have fixed cameras on the platforms and pan-and-tilt units in the parking lots,” explains Jon Soucy, project communications assistant manager with Bi-State Development in St. Louis.

The pan-and-tilt cameras, housed in domes, are located on poles in the parking lots. Two fixed cameras are installed on each station platform to monitor crowd control, train movement and station activity. “There is one on each end, and they point straight down the line toward the oncoming trains so they can view the entire platform,” explains Ron Simpson, resident engineer for communications on the project.

The cameras throughout the MetroLink system are monitored 24 hours a day, as well as recorded via analog video recorders.

A 9832 fox-dBm broadband multiplexer transmits analog CCTV through a digital backbone. The multiplexer, manufactured by Fiber Options, Bohemia, N.Y., transmits video, audio and data signals from a central site to nine remote field sites.

Due to the transmission distance and bandwidth requirements, a single-mode fiber optic line was used, “which is also immune to electromagnetic interference,” adds Simpson.

Using Fujitsu FLM150 multiplexers and four fibers — two in each direction — the transmission is guaranteed via redundancy. “So if we lose one station, it will send the signal back the other way.”

Passenger assistance telephones by Talk-a-Phone and Code Blue intercoms — featuring blue strobe lights and audible alarms for signaling — will be located on station platforms and in parking lots.

According to Rick Moore, director of security and fare enforcement for Bi-State, electronic security is in its embryonic stages on the line. He says the main strategy up to this point has focused on personnel, and it has been effective.

His team consists of contract security officers, stationed at select locations, and fare inspectors, who will also function as security officers. “They will work on the trains, and will also patrol the stations.”

The company will also contract with the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department to assign deputies to shifts at MetroLink.

A month before opening, security and law enforcement officials will be trained.

“We'll familiarize them with the trains, issues to watch for on the platforms, and safety on the tracks. It will be similar to what a traffic officer does. You have to watch that people don't walk out in front of the trains, and that we don't have trespassers on the alignment. They'll also watch for disorderly conduct, or suspicious activity at the stations, on the trains, and in the park-and-ride lots,” says Moore. Undercover officers will also circulate.

In order to stay abreast of activity and incident trends on the line, Moore holds frequent briefings. “We have a weekly staff meeting, attended by the commander of the MetroLink Police and the security contractor, and we go over the statistics, and what we need to watch for coming down the line. We're what I call ‘event-driven.’ If anything occurs at the sports complexes, convention center, or tourist attractions, we are involved.”

Statistics show little crime on the existing line: “I think it has been a pleasant surprise. We have very little crime. The biggest problem we may have once in a while is a car theft, but that happens in the best of areas at any parking lot. The criminals wait until security goes to one end, and then they hit the other end,” Moore says. But the new cameras should address the problem. “We retrofitted CCTV into our park-and-ride lots on the Missouri side, so now coverage will be equal throughout the line.”

To handle the additional communications and video traffic, Bi-State purchased eight new monitors, and will almost double its manpower.

On the safety side, a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system was also installed, including a 400-foot-tall communications tower at the Memorial Hospital station in Belleville, Ill. “This will allow communication between Metro Link train operators and central control,” said Soucy.

The system, provided by ATS, Spartec, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, also allows Bi-State officials to pinpoint the location of trains on a computer screen, as well as to monitor the operation of crossing gates, signals, fire and intrusion alarms.

Lee Handfield, project manager, explains: “It's used to monitor and log — into a central database — thousands of points out in the field: passenger stations, relay houses, audio bungalows, all of the events that are occurring out in the field. For instance, what time did a signaling light activate?”

The SCADA system ties into the Vital Safety Logic system provided by Harmon Industries, Blue Springs, Mo. It manages the human safety portion of the light rail vehicles. If there is a mistake or sabotage involving a switch, for instance, the Vital Safety Logic system may not allow the change if it detects a train approaching the area.

“In other words, it makes its own decisions whether or not to process that request,” Handfield explains.

In the past, railroads had to rely on section men or “gandy dancers,” who would physically travel up and down the line in hand cars, and check for broken rail, iced-over switches or obstructions. “With SCADA, if there is a malfunction or a misfortune out in the field, we can go back and get an exact picture of the events on a work station, which consists of two 21-inch monitors,” adds Handfield. The historical data is then stored.

Construction on the next phase of the MetroLink extension from Southwestern Illinois College to the Shiloh-Scott AFB Station will begin in spring 2001. This additional extension is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2003.

For the Record

ABOUT THE COMPANIES

For information, please circle the appropriate Reader Service number (listed below) on one of the Reader Service cards in the issue or visit infoLINK at www.securitysolutions.com
ATS — 27
Code Blue — 28
Fiber Options — 29
Fujitsu — 30
Harmon Industries — 31
SES Co. — 32
Talk-A-Phone — 33
Vicon — 34

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© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

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