Simoco engineers lift the lid on London’s road tunnels’ radio systems
With the London Mayor announcing plans in February this year for five new mini-tunnels, tunnel radio will continue to play an important role in keeping the capital’s traffic moving.
You may have seen an insightful feature in the most recent edition of Land Mobile on the topic of radio systems in London’s road tunnels. The article, features Simoco's engineer Jason Hollier, who guides reporter Richard Lambley around some of Simoco’s tunnel installations underneath the Thames.
Communications networks are essential to managing the traffic flowing through these busy tunnel routes and leading road and tunnel operators such as Transport for London (TfL) rely on Simoco’s experience and knowledge, trusting them to design, build, monitor and maintain their communications systems.
Simoco maintains the radio and loudspeaker systems in several road tunnels managed by TfL, including the Blackwall, Rotherhithe and Limehouse Link tunnels.
Hollier takes the reporter on his regular maintenance round to visit some of these installations. “We have to visit every service building in the tunnels once a week to do what we call the weekly check – looking for alarms and things like that,” he explains. “Obviously if we find anything then we will be fixing it.”
The article shows how modern transport links need smart communications systems that proactively monitor and address maintenance needs before they impact performance. Our current project to transfer operation of all the PA systems to a user-friendly touchscreen interface in the control room of the London Street Tunnels Operations Centre (LSTOC) is mentioned.
For London, river crossings are especially vital, with the continuing regeneration of London boroughs and congestion on its roads. With the London Mayor announcing plans in February this year for five new mini-tunnels, tunnel radio will continue to play an important role in keeping the capital’s traffic moving.
