Bosch Puts St Pancras On The Right Track

St Pancras International, Eurostar's new central London home, is using leading edge IP CCTV technology from Bosch Security Systems.

St Pancras International is part of 'High Speed 1' - the UK's largest ever single construction project and the first major new railway for over a century.  The £5.8 billion high speed rail line from the mouth of the Channel Tunnel to St Pancras International is being delivered by London & Continental railways. It will make it possible to run twice the number of Eurostar trains to Paris and Brussels at peak times.

St Pancras International is, in effect, five stations in one - with Eurostar, Midland Mainline and First Capital trains (formerly Thameslink) all with operations from the station.  From 2009, a high-speed domestic rail service from Kent will also serve the station, which already has connections to six London Underground lines.  St Pancras International will have an estimated footfall of up to 45 million people per year.

It is in the context of increased passenger footfall that a new security solution was required, at the heart of which is sophisticated high-quality video transmission, management and storage technology from Bosch.

Matt Caine, General Manager of Controlware Communications, who completed the installation, explains, "The technical solution includes a mixture of both static and dome cameras, IP codecs, networked storage and an advanced management platform.  As the leading IP Bosch Security Specialist Dealer (BSSD) for the UK, and having worked with the product range for over nine years, Controlware had no hesitation in developing a solution around the highly reliable Bosch product range."

"The Bosch Security products used include: Videojet 8008 and VIP-X transmission codecs, Networked Video Recording (NVR), RAID storage, and VIDOS management.  Together these products form the basis of an integrated IP CCTV solution that delivers high-quality video transmission, management, and storage for St Pancras International."

VideoJet 8008 is Bosch's high-end, multi-stream Video-over-IP CCTV network-based video surveillance encoder.  It delivers the highest quality real-time video available today and its hardware engine produces 25 images per second of pure MPEG-4 video in DVD-like quality.  This 19-inch rack-mount single unit incorporates multiple encoders delivering eight full-motion video channels, with each channel generating non-multiplexed video at 25 images per second (IPS).  The high-quality output video signals allow video to be viewed on any standard PC, using Bosch's VIDOS video management software or a web browser.

VIDOS Pro Suite is a powerful, flexible and scalable client-server software suite for medium to large CCTV installations.  Its central configuration allows smooth upgrading and expansion simply by adding more cameras, encoders or workstations.  Central or remote management and control brings various user authorisation levels, and allows privilege allocations for cameras, monitors and alarms.

The VIDOS Pro Software Suite manages and controls all the cameras, monitors and recorders.  The PC software uses graphical maps (sitemaps) for fast and intuitive user operation to manage all components in the CCTV system.  VIDOS can be used with, or instead of, hardware decoders and analog monitors.  It is the central point to which encoders stream high-quality video, audio and alarm information.  It is also the central point for camera control and relay activation.

Major contractors involved in the project include Costain, O'Rourke, Bachy and Emcor Rail (CORBER) consortium and Rail Link Engineering (RLE), and Controlware.

Adam Breeze, Strategic Marketing Manager for Bosch Security Systems, said, "This is a prestigious installation and one that we are very pleased to be involved with.  Bosch's integrated IP Network Video Systems enables St Pancras International to benefit from secure access to real-time and recorded video from anywhere on the network and the IP network also offers the unique ability to support multiple viewers at any one time."