Tel Aviv Light Rail

The challenge

Integral to the smooth running of this new world-class light rail system is the ability to manage incidents, be they operational, safety, security, critical maintenance or cyber or natural disasters. With the project built from the ground up, NTA comissioned the the creation of a cutting-edge technological ecosystem that would connect the many different stakeholders involved in the Red Line to provide truly holistic, end-to-end management of the entire incident lifecycle. This large-scale, complex initiative was ultimately implimented by MTRS (MTRS3 Solutions and Services Ltd.), an international transport security consulting company based in Israel that has been NTA’s trusted security and emergency preparedness consultant for mass transport projects since 2015.

Following an exhaustive tender process, during which NTA and MTRS evaluated solutions available on the market, Hexagon was awarded the contract to supply and assimilate its Situator incident management system.

Given the importance and scale of this project, high demands were placed on the solution. It needed to be a single, unified installation, capable of effectively operating as a traditional PSIM for security-related tasks, as well as an incident management system for managing the response to operational, safety, critical maintenance, cyber and natural disaster emergencies and crises.

Getting the most advanced, tailored solution was important, but it was also essential the vendor demonstrated proven vertical sector experience. To this end, it was very beneficial that Hexagon could present NTA with the opportunity to observe a fully operational Situator system in Europe, as well as at other reference sites with rail operators around the world.

The solution

Situator is a leading incident management system that addresses every aspect of the incident lifecycle. It is designed to integrate and correlate vast amounts of information in real time, from multiple diverse systems. This state-of-the-art level of integration ensures situational awareness is delivered when and where it is needed, helping mitigate risk, prevent incident escalation and ensure a reliable, fully coordinated, appropriate and consistent response every time.

With the Red Line scheduled to begin commercial operations in the summer of 2023, a rigorous process of design, integration, configuration, testing and commissioning of the solution commenced. It was especially important to the customer to have total confidence in the technology, methodology and procedures to ensure the entire system would be fully operational when the first train departed.

The scale of the task was immense, with direct integrations between Situator and more than 20 security-, safety- and rail-related systems encompassing more than 10,000 data points. The systems and subsystems include video surveillance (3,000 wayside and on-board cameras), access control (including gates, doors and barriers) and perimeter intruder detection, fire and smoke detection, passenger help points, public address and display systems and automatic fare collection. These systems are installed in stations, stops, tunnels, at-grade alignment tracks, depots and on board the trains. In addition, there are integrations (through an enterprise service bus) with the signalling and train control systems and other services and information management systems, such as an asset and maintenance management system and a geographic information system.

By integrating this complex architecture of sophisticated systems to produce a single unified solution, operators are provided with workstations from which they can centrally coordinate the appropriate incident response. The process of developing predetermined workflows to manage the vast array of operational, safety, security, cyber, critical maintenance and natural disaster incidents that could potentially occur on the line was intensive. All stakeholders were consulted from day one of the system’s design to deliver a solution that would be intuitive for operators to use on a daily basis.

The result

To date, there are over 80 workflows within Situator to manage a range of incidents, such as a collision involving rolling stock, train derailment, severe weather, abnormal congestion and infrastructure failure, as well as threats to personnel, passengers and property.

Situator is deployed across four Red Line control centers – the Security Operation Center (SOC); the Operation Control Center (OCC, responsible for managing traffic, facilities, power, fire safety and passenger information); the Depot Control Center (DCC) and the Maintenance Control Desk (MCD). Additionally, workstations have been installed in the command-and-control rooms of the police and fire and rescue services via a highly secure web client.

The real-time collaboration between the operator, security team, maintenance and first responders, along with cross-organizational situational awareness were the critical elements to assure the optimal emergency response multistakeholder response.

For example, the relevant stakeholders will be alerted to the need to halt movement on a section of track, dispatch emergency medical services and front-line personnel (who will receive notifications and instructions to act directly from the system on their smart devices via a mobile client) and communicate with passengers (by broadcasting pre-recorded announcements and sharing information on the public display system). Furthermore, in the event that rolling stock is damaged, the maintenance team also has its own specific workflows to follow.

The performance of the solution in delivering situational awareness and end-to-end incident management was put to the test during a series of large-scale exercises with the participation of all stakeholders prior to commencement of operations. It was these exercises that provided essential insights that enabled the fine-tuning of the system and ensured the readiness of the Red Line for commercial operation.

It is the collaboration of the solution partner with NTA, operator, first responders and many others involved in the project that made it possible to deliver an innovative and proven solution within the given time frame that metro and rail owners and operators around the world can use as a blueprint.

The outlook

The next phase of NTA’s ambitious project is the Purple Line that will transport passengers from the eastern parts of the metropolitan area to the heart of Tel Aviv. This will be followed by the Green Line, which will connect Holon and Rishon LeZion directly south of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, to Hezliya, bordering in the north.