SISS (Station Information and Security Systems) manage just about every piece of information required to run a railway station safely and efficiently. The information held in these systems enables station managers to monitor delays and give those all-important updated departure and arrival times to passengers on platform display systems.
These systems control High Definition CCTV imaging so that, in the event of a crime or a threat to passengers’ safety, the danger can be detected swiftly, and necessary action taken in real time, to avoid the situation escalating.
Considering how critical these systems are to both safety and efficiency, you can imagine how serious the situation could be if they failed.Â
Protecting critical systems with railway communication enclosures
There are a number of reasons why electrical equipment can fail but by choosing a robust enclosure you can mitigate risks such as water ingress, overheating, dust ingress, vandalism and even insect and rodent attack.
It has even been known for thieves looking for metals such as copper to lasso SISS cabinets and yank the enclosures from their foundations, damaging thousands of pounds of equipment and causing serious knock-on delays for service providers and passengers.
Thankfully, there’s a lot we can do to protect against such attacks. Consultancy services now exist with the advanced technology and design capability to enable rail operators to specify SISS cabinets in and around the station that resist a whole range of challenges. Train Operating Companies (TOCs) can defend against not only rodent and vandal damage (which are more common than you might think) but also extremes of temperature, electro-magnetic fields and many other daily risks, to preserve reliable, uninterrupted communications across the station.
Today, robust railway communication enclosures can, with the consultation of an experienced provider, be specified for a range of considerations and to fit almost any location, giving train operating companies the potential to site SISS cabinets in areas that minimise the risk of theft or vandalism, and protect against more everyday challenges such as the British weather. A well specified SISS cabinet will also enable a good air flow to bring clean air into the enclosure, enabling better thermal management.
It will have a pitched roof to prevent people from sitting on the roof or leaving items where they don’t belong, and powder coating over stainless steel will provide a long lasting protective surface with great aesthetics. For example, our own COMMSAFE™ cabinet has been developed to meet the most stringent requirements of the UK’s train operating companies, with a variety of vandal resistant features, and a secure housing that manages the cabinet’s internal environment for heat. COMMSAFE’s intelligent thermal management system actually prolongs the life of the air filter, which minimises the number of maintenance visits required and significantly reduces the whole life cost of the SISS cabinet.
Consult, make, design, protect
Off-the-shelf SISS cabinets are available from some providers but they often come without consultation, so you’re on your own, for heat loads especially. We always recommend specifying outdoor enclosures for the rail industry through consultation. Our own methodology is Consult, Make, Design and Protect; we take time to understand your needs, then use our wide experience and knowledge to make robust railway certified cabinets that meet all kinds of challenges, all designed to customer specifications.
Considering how much is at stake when station information and security systems fail, we believe consultation is the only way to be sure you are specifying SISS cabinets that give your current systems the best possible defence, and that allow space for the upgraded or additional systems you are likely to need in the years to come. The success of a railway station depends on the safety of its information and security systems, and those systems depend on the quality of their SISS cabinets.
