And then there are the silent emergency calls made by drivers. When one of these is received, the control room immediately sends the nearest service vehicle to the site.

Increased interaction

For many years the MIVB operated its own radio network for the Metro and the security services. But when the circular line of the Brussels Metro was completed in 2009, the new way of working gave rise to new communication needs.

“We had only two channels on our analogue radio network”, explained Pierre Verstraeten, IT systems manager in the Metro business unit. “Once the circular line was finished, however, more interaction was necessary between the units, and more people had to be able to have a radio.

“Earlier, the Metro drivers did have one, but our people in the stations had to make do with their mobile phones and the PA system. That situation was no longer tenable. Particularly during events, when the whole platform was full and everyone wanted to make a call with their mobile phone, we couldn’t rely on the mobile phone connection.”

Astrid has been available in Metro stations and tunnels since 2005, when it was installed for use by the emergency services and the police. Coverage is provided via 16 underground base stations, 23 repeaters, dozens of indoor antennas and many kilometres of radiating cable running through the tunnels. “The process of installing all this equipment always took place smoothly, thanks to excellent consultation with us”, commented Marc Van den Eede, technical support for radio communications in the infrastructure business unit. “This earlier collaboration had already given us confidence in the Astrid system.”

Talk groups: a plus

The Metro switched over to Astrid in phases, beginning on April 1, 2009. Several months later, the roll-out extended to Security and Control.

“Over the years we had already participated in disaster exercises and tests”, said Daniel Bernard, studies and projects manager in the Security and Control business unit. “So we knew the added value offered by Astrid, such as the possibility to use several talk groups. With our previous radio system the control room could only communicate from radio to radio, so it couldn’t share information with a whole team.”

With the Astrid system, inspectors, prevention teams and intervention teams each have their own talk groups and. If necessary, the dispatcher at the dispatching work station can put different teams into contact with one another.
“On the annual car-free Sundays we’ve noticed that communication with the people in the stations goes a lot better than it did earlier”, observed Pierre Verstraeten. “Thanks to Astrid, a whole group of new employees can communicate, and that’s good news both for them and for the travellers.”

In the future, the MIVB also wants to be able to operate joint talk groups with the police and the emergency services. Already it collaborates daily with the Metro brigade of the federal police, and is also involved in emergency planning. “Multidisciplinary communication was one of the reasons for choosing Astrid”, said Daniel Bernard. “Hopefully it will also quickly become a reality in the field.”

For its radio terminals, MIVB opted for the handportable THR880i and the fixed TMR880, both from EADS. Currently its radio fleet consists of:

• 257 handheld terminals in the Metro business unit;
• 100 handheld terminals in the Security and Control unit;
• 20 handheld terminals in the Infrastructure unit;
• 15 fixed radios in the control rooms;
• three dispatching workstations in the control rooms.

Since maintenance tasks and other works must be performed at night, the control rooms operate 24 hours a day. “Therefore it is also important for us that, in the event of problems, we can reach our radio communications supplier day and night”,said Pierre Verstraeten. “And with Astrid that’s definitely the case.”