Case Study – Lidar Technology Solutions
Lidar Technology Solutions - Network Rail
Background and Business Challenge
In partnership with Hitachi we delivered an initial phase of Lidar deployment for the project “Innovation Stations” which was led by the R&D team.
Manchester Piccadilly platforms 13 and 14 are some of busiest in the country, often suffering from significant overcrowding during peak times. These platforms are 200m long, staffed by a shift station supervisor and 4-6 Customer Service Assistants. In business-as-usual conditions these staff will provide proactive and reactive customer service to get the passengers to board their train with minimal disruption to other passengers and the train service.
Station staff must balance safety with operational efficiency. The staff are trained to provide crowd management to maintain passenger safety during disruption. When crowding is expected additional staff are deployed and a more complex people intense crowd management system may be implemented.
The station had an existing footfall counting system where existing sensors are located at entrances, exits and key throughfares around the station, however they could can only provide historical data and is used for non-operational purposes. This caused delays by several hours between the data being recorded and being available for use.
Network Rail required a specialised solution that met a number of requirements including: mobile solution, clear real time view of people and crowed counting and movement, automated alerts for hotspots/crowded areas to enable real time operational efficiency. The Hitachi Lidar solution meets these requirements and as a result a proof of value system was installed at Manchester Piccadilly
Our Solution
Lidar technology is an alternative technology to CCTV, that is not impacted by GDPR regulation. The technology creates a 3D visualisation of the environment using lightbeam technology detecting the objects in the field of view. We are able to differentiate between objects, identifying the passenger’s profiles and extra details such as those with baggage or bikes. We can track the passenger journey from the point of entry in the passenger hall, through to the point of boarding a train. We process this data to create valuable data insights for the station operations planning and begin to forecast according to data trends.
The benefit from network rail is early identification of the passenger density across the dual platform and proactively respond to co-ordinate the passenger movement to correctly located for the train arrival schedule. Rather than all passengers waiting on the platform, passengers arriving at a pre set advance threshold can be advised to wait in the indoor passenger hall. This mitigates for overcrowded platforms during peak times.
Benefits to Network Rail
The benefit from network rail is early identification of the passenger density across the dual platform and proactively respond to co-ordinate the passenger movement to correctly located for the train arrival schedule. Rather than all passengers waiting on the platform, passengers arriving at a pre-set advance threshold can be advised to wait in the indoor passenger hall. This mitigates for overcrowded platforms during peak times.
This initial first phase was a success and received strong feedback from the Network Rail station team.
