Enabling a secure return to rail journey: classes from IRITS

The number of rail passengers has been impacted worldwide due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has not returned to pre-Covid levels.

Ireland experienced a fall in 1st quarter 2021 of 85% and Greece 66% compared to Q1 2020 while others – including the UK – are starting to see almost all travelers ahead of Covid.

In order to get people back on track, industry stakeholders believe that the most urgent need is to regain confidence and reassure the public that their return to rail will be as safe as possible.

“Enabling a Safe Return to Rail Travel” was the title of a conference at the International Railway Summit (IRITS) on September 23. The webinar focused on video-based passenger protection and demonstrated how technology and the use of analytics can improve rail traffic, increase passenger comfort, and avoid traffic jams and antisocial behavior.

Here’s what we learned

Engineering to restore confidence

According to Isaac Centellas Garcia, head of the facilities and information systems department of the Madrid Metro, technology has proven to be fundamental to dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and will continue to do so as countries like Spain return to life before Covid .

To ensure the health and safety of both travelers and staff during the height of the pandemic, the Madrid Metro implemented several measures, from home working practices for large numbers of staff to the division of staff working in the maintenance and monitoring center of the Company works for facilities and telecommunications to avoid unnecessary contact.

“We have also improved the app to increase the information for our customers and to collect data to optimize the flow of passengers and waiting times [as well as] Provide information about incoming trains, ”explains Centellas Garcia.

To control passenger flows in stations, Metro Madrid uses Big Data to compare the modeling of the station’s input flow to the actual network flow, the information about the trains through the central traffic management system network known as CTC, and information about the passengers from the turnstiles.

“This allows us to manipulate the access system and the passenger information system to limit the number of people who can get to the stations,” he continued. The technology reports the flow of passenger information in real time so travelers can plan the trip as the system sends a message to passengers’ phones, restoring trust.

“From a technical point of view, we need to ensure that public transport networks will continue to form the backbone of urban mobility and promote intermodal transport systems,” he added. “We have to put our customers at the center of our decisions, give them transparent communication and information in real time.”

Body temperature controls

For Carlos Freire Coloma, security manager at the Spanish public company ADIF, body temperature checks will be the way forward in dealing with Covid-19 and possible future pandemics.

As the company responsible for the design of the Spanish rail network, ADIF carried out a test in Madrid’s Atocha and Barcelona’s Sants stations to see if body temperature controls would prevent passengers with a body temperature of more than 37.5 ° C and improperly wearing masks could start with high temperatures – express trains.

The body temperature controls – with an error rate of less than 0.5 – are located in the lobby of the high-speed trains, where access is restricted for high-speed passengers and train staff.

The system placed on the floor is contactless and can be removed from a distance of three to six meters.

“Passengers with a temperature below 37.5 ° C will continue to undergo security checks and, if everything is checked, will be allowed to board the train, but passengers with a body temperature of more than 37.5 ° C will be separated from the others and for a second Measurement taken, ”said Freire Coloma.

A year and four million passengers later, ADIF reported 274 warnings and 14 cases of people banned from boarding a train.

“On the other hand, there are considerable economic costs due to the necessary human and technical resources and limited functionality, as the system is not implemented in all stations,” he added.

“If you concentrate on the professionals, the detection of possible Covid-19 cases works and helps to prevent infection High-speed trains and increases passenger confidence in using public transport, ”concluded Freire Coloma.

Video surveillance for security

Criminal incidents have always occurred on railroad networks, from theft and vandalism to more serious ones like assault or shootings. However, in the past 18 months, the dangers posed by the Covid-19 pandemic have increased.

Qognify Key Accounts Senior Manager Frank Müller is of the opinion that the industry should increasingly rely on legally compliant video surveillance technologies instead of large personal expenses.

“From our point of view, it is a matter of using products and technologies that meet the requirements of transport companies,” said Müller. “This includes functions such as efficient support for operators in monitoring and investigating incidents.”

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