Technova
RAILWAY SECURITY SYSTEM
by Vishesh Mishra
MBA (FT), Institute of
Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad
For railroads, the enemy is no longer trucks and buses; it's terrorism. In the wake of 9/11 and the Madrid train bombings, security efforts top today's priority lists. And critical to those efforts are cooperation and information sharing. New technology and equipment now coming on the market can help to improve railway and station security in one crucial area: Bomb Detection. The last few years have seen a terrible increase in bomb attacks and bomb threats on railways and stations worldwide. It is not just the outrages perpetrated in Madrid, London, and Mumbai, but also the attempts to paralyze entire railway networks, such as the recent German case where a student reportedly had a bomb concealed in his suitcase for this precise purpose.
The timely detection of potentially dangerous situations involving passengers in public transport sites is vital to improve the safety and confidence of the traveling public. Conventional CCTV systems are monitored manually so that a single observer is typically responsible for dealing with tens or hundreds of cameras at a time. Thus, important events might be missed or detected too late for effective action.
There has been a revolution in x-ray technology. The two most-important developments are the combination of camera and x-ray sources at one end, and the ability to show ultra clear images at the other. In fact we can now show an x-ray image on a portable PC screen that seems to be approaching the quality of ordinary vision.
Although the technology that is needed to do this is both clever and advanced, it looks like normal vision bill uses x-rays rather than normal light. This makes it much easier to identify, and potentially even auto-identity, suspect devices. Detection rates are higher and false-alarms or indeterminate results significantly lower.
The need for automation in surveillance systems
It is clear that what is needed is a ‘pro-active’ approach whereby the likelihood of events can be recognized more or less automatically so as to select useful information for the human operators in charge of managing a transport network. It is therefore useful to replace routine human monitoring with computer-based systems able to detect events of interest. Various algorithms and systems have been proposed recently to automate or semi-automate the monitoring task. The EU-funded project PRISMATICA (PRo-active Integrated systems for Security Management by Technological, Institutional and Communication Assistance) is part of the efforts to make public transport systems more attractive to passengers, safer both for passengers and staff and operationally cost effective. An innovative part of this project is the combination of legal, social and technical aspects. Part of these technical efforts is to develop a framework in which automatic detection and the human-led management of public sites can take place.
Technology Measures for Railways Security
i. Rail Transit System: Domestic and foreign rail transit operators have taken similar actions to help secure their systems, such as implementing customer awareness programs, upgrading security technology, and tightening access controls. In addition, centralized clearinghouses on rail security technologies, such as chemical sensors, and best practices are maintained in some foreign countries. By design, rail transit systems are open (i.e., have multiple access points, hubs serving multiple carriers, and, in some cases, no barriers) so that they can move large numbers of people quickly.
ii. 3D Image: A traditional drawback with x-rays has been the complete lack of depth information. A single x-ray image can't identify what is on top of what or whether the operator is seeing one item or many that are superimposed. However, by taking more than one image at a time from positions about as far apart as human eyes, the software is a able to construct a 3D image. This is particularly suited to baggage tunnel scanners, where the technology has recently become available. The resulting 3D image enables operators to understand the image more quickly and more effectively and to recognize the presence of potential threats.
iii. Passenger and baggage screening: Some domestic and foreign rail operators have trained employees to recognize suspicious behavior as a means of screening passengers. For example, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which operates Boston’s T system, has adopted a behavioral screening system to identify passengers exhibiting suspicious behavior. All of the domestic and foreign rail operators who are being contacted have ruled out an airport-style screening system for daily use in heavy traffic. According to the operators, such a system, in which each passenger and the passenger’s baggage are screened by a magnetometer or X-ray machine, raised concerns about cost, staffing, and customer convenience, among other factors.
iv. Upgrading technology: Railways IT security department had implemented a form of closed-circuit television (CCTV) to monitor their stations, yards, or trains. While these cameras cannot be monitored closely at all times, because of the large number of staff the operators said would be required, many rail operators told us the cameras act as a deterrent, assist security personnel in determining how to respond to incidents that have already occurred, and can be monitored if an operator has received information that an incident may occur at a certain time or place in a system.
v. Access control: Tightening access procedures at key facilities or rights-of-way is another way many rail operators have attempted to enhance security. A majority of domestic and selected foreign passenger rail operators had invested in enhanced systems to control unauthorized access at employee facilities and stations.
vi. Covert testing: Covert testing is used to keep employees alert about their security responsibilities. Covert testing involves security staff staging unannounced events to test the response of railroad staff to incidents such as suspicious packages or alarms. In one European system, security staff place suspicious items throughout their system to see how long it takes operating staff to respond to the items. Similarly, one Asian rail operator’s security staff breaks security seals on fire extinguishers and open alarmed emergency doors randomly to see how long it takes staff to respond. Officials of these operators stated that these tests are carried out daily and are beneficial because the staff know they could be tested at any moment and are therefore more likely to be vigilant about security.
vii. Random screening: In this random screening of passengers and their baggage is done. In the systems where this practice is used, security personnel can approach passengers either in stations or on the trains and ask them to submit their persons or their baggage to a search. Passengers declining to cooperate must leave the system.
viii. Centralized Clearinghouse: According to passenger rail operators in five developed countries their national governments have centralized the process for performing research and developing passenger rail security technologies and maintaining a clearinghouse on these technologies and security best practices. According to these officials, this practice allows rail operators to have one central source for information on the merits of a particular passenger rail security technology, such as chemical sensors, CCTVs, and intrusion detection devices.
London Underground Railway Security System
London Underground is one of the largest underground transportation systems in the world handling 3 million passengers a day. As part of an ongoing strategy to enhance security and improve customer service, Metronet Rail will be deploying Networked Video Solution across selected rail lines of the London Underground. The solution will enable operations and rail security personnel to enhance security by monitoring passenger platforms and certain remote portions of the track.
Networked Video Solution enables government and
commercial organizations to enhance the security of their facilities by
networking video across multiple locations and applying advanced content
analytics to extract actionable intelligence from live and stored video. By
alerting security personnel to potential security threats, Networked Video
Solution is designed to help organizations prevent security breaches and improve
response time. By this new system London underground railway security system has
been able to protect security very well. This has also given them chance to
change or work upon their infrastructure so that the possibility of any threat
can be reduced. Due to this IT security system London Underground has become a
most secure system in the world.
Disclaimer : The views
expressed in the articles are author’s own views B’Cognizance or
IIITA is not liable for any objections arising out of the same.
The matter here is solely for academic use only.