London Underground has embarked on a major security upgrade at its London maintenance depots. The facilities available at the busy sites include general maintenance, train-cleaning and driver rest areas. A large number of employees, suppliers and other visitors pass through LU’s various depots on a daily basis.

The previous intercom system no longer met their needs and so the decision was taken by Transport for London to invest in a totally new IP intercom system, together with a new Honeywell surveillance and access control system.

A dedicated site-wide network was installed for 35 of Castel’s CAP IP PoE (Power over Ethernet) Video Entry Stations, which have been used for the gates, vehicle barriers and turnstiles. All calls are networked back to a single central point locally – either a gatehouse or security control room. However, if a call goes unanswered, the next available operator at another depot will be able to receive and deal with it – another great advantage of using an IP/SIP network solution. This feature helped reassure London Underground that no calls would go unanswered, particularly as round-the-clock access to the sites is critical.

Operators using Castel’s Xellip IP Master Stations now have the ability for simultaneous video communication with other colleagues across all sites, thereby enhancing overall security and generally improving working conditions by using the latest technology on the market. Castel’s Xellip Server Max was also used on the project, which allows up to 1,000 SIP extensions and provides plenty of capacity for expansion to the system in the future.

The new intercom system will not only prevent unwanted visitors from accessing the sites, some of which cover a very large area and have many entrance and exit points, but it will also safeguard staff working there and give them easier access.

Castel’s Sales Director, Stuart Hibberd, commenting on the installation, said, “This project yet again demonstrates Castel’s ability to provide an IP video intercom solution in a very demanding environment where there is a great deal of traffic and valuable assets. Castel’s range of IP products provides complete interoperability and scalability, which means that future depots can be added to the system – something we knew we could deliver for the client if required at a later date.”