Learn how the largest passenger carrier in the Netherlands created a unified control room and how operators can now quickly gather evidence and easily share it with police officers, paramedics, and other partners.
Dutch Railways (NS) facilitates the use of public transport in the Netherlands and keeps travelers in the region moving. It is the largest passenger carrier in the Netherlands, providing more than 4,800 train rides per day for 1 million people. With passenger and staff safety top of mind, NS implements many measures to increase physical security. This includes using video surveillance at railway terminals and in trains, managing gate access to stations and deploying on-site security personnel. Over 900 employees oversee security at NS, which is divided into two groups— Regional & Social Safety Management, the Safety & Service (V&S) department and the control room.
Strengthening physical security in railway stations and trains
At the NS, the regional & social safety management department is responsible for deploying V&S employees for large scale events. These can be festivals and soccer matches, which require crowd control from both NS and national police. The V&S employees physically monitor everyday safety at stations and on trains, identifying troublemakers and maintaining contact with national police. About 100 control room employees oversee V&S activities and monitor all of the NS railway stations.
Until 2018, the NS control center operators used in-house developed software to monitor security and manage incidents. When that software reached the end of its lifecycle, NS issued an invite for a tender.
According to Frank Bontje, Manager of the NS Control Room: “The procurement procedure included three important elements. Firstly, the continuity of the IT platform had to be improved. Secondly, our goal was to implement an integrated alarm center. This required connecting our camera surveillance, the BTS alarm center (the alarm center for managing access to stations and gates) and the Safety Center (the 112-alarm center for NS staff). Finally, we also emphasized that that the new provider should not just be able to deliver the best functionalities; but they should also understand the importance of working closely with and supporting its customers.”
Jan Teekens, Architect, Social Safety further explained, “In preparation for the invite to the tender, we created a list of functionalities that the new solutions had to support and described scenarios that frequently occur at NS. Selected vendors were asked to show how they are able to facilitate those scenarios and how that would fit into the NS IT infrastructure. They also had to show how they would be able to connect their solution with the wider NS IT-infrastructure. This is important because, due to the size and nature of our operations, a lot of data is exchanged between the control room and the wider organization.”
Working with partners to build unified transit security
During the procurement procedure, NS was in regular contact with the security department of Schiphol Airport. This led them to take a closer look at Genetec Mission Control™, a decision management system that helps control room operators better understand unfolding events and quickly identify the best course of action.
“Through our existing contacts, we were aware that Schiphol was already using Genetec Mission Control for a while and was happy with it,” said Frank Bontje.
“We were also aware that Genetec™ offers general solutions that allow organizations to share data easily if required— an important element for NS as well, “ continued Jan Teekens. “Our Schiphol contact also confirmed that Genetec supports organizations’ preferences about how to set up the security platform. Due to our complex security and IT situation, this was an important factor in selecting Genetec solutions.”
NS selected Bosch as its System Integrator for the implementation of Genetec Security Center, Genetec Mission Control, and Genetec Clearance™. Using Genetec Security Center, NS can now manage all security data in one unified platform. This provides a more comprehensive view of security, higher operational efficiency, and improved decision-making, all while helping operators quickly identify and respond to incidents.
“By using Genetec Security Center, we’ve been able to create the unified control room we were aiming for. And with Genetec Clearance, NS operators can quickly gather evidence and share it with police, ambulances and any other chain partners, if needed,” said Frank Bontje.
Streamlining incident management with one shared view
A custom-made module was also part of the implementation. Since NS is a public organization, they are very data-driven, collecting a lot of data about incidents to ensure accountability. The custommade module makes it easier for control room operators to record incidents and connect with their colleagues faster than before.
“Insightful incident information is now available quickly to colleagues, making coordination during incidents go smoothly. For example, if an NS colleague needs to open a gate to grant access to an ambulance, they immediately receive a notification advising them of the action needed,” explained Frank Bontje.
NS is currently investigating whether it is possible to transform and separate the intake and follow-up activities. This could make incident management even faster. According to Jan Teekens, “Another positive outcome of this initiative will potentially be that the person who receives an incoming call will be able to remain in contact for longer with the person asking for help. This will further improve incident management and traveler safety.
As NS continues to plan for future improvements, the team is pleased to have selected Genetec solutions.
"Not only is our IT infrastructure enormously complex, but we also had an internal move during the implementation of the Genetec solutions. The entire control room had to be restructured. A lot of changes were happening simultaneously. We are therefore pleased that after the testing and implementation phases, we are now operating to our full potential. Also, 75% of the customized module was initiated by our employees, and thanks to the support from Genetec, we have been able to address our teams’ suggestions. In addition, that solution will now also become part of the Genetec product, which proves that together we were able to improve as well. Additionally, adjusting standard reports to make them more suitable for our organization went smoothly. Overall, we enjoyed collaborating with Genetec to achieve a common goal,” concluded Frank Bontje.
Frank Bontje said, “By using Genetec Security Center, we’ve been able to create the unified control room we were aiming for. And with Genetec Clearance, NS operators can quickly gather evidence and share it with police, ambulances and any other chain partners, if needed.”
Product Adopted:Transportation