Incident response trials help improve onboard safety

Signalbox is able to detect the train that an emergency call comes from, enabling a faster and more informed incident response.

Passengers may soon have the reassurance they can get help if a criminal or medical incident occurs on board a train, thanks to the completion of successful trials using Signalbox’s train detection technology.

 Currently when a call is made from a fixed point, Advance Mobile Location (AML) technology enables emergency services to locate the position of the caller to within 25m accuracy. However, positioning data that’s transmitted from a railway environment is often less accurate due to factors such as area density, distance from the cell tower and the indoor environment.

Location precision is further compromised when it originates from a moving train because the co-ordinates – a snapshot of location data when the call is placed – quickly become irrelevant as the train continues its journey at speed.

Funded by the DfT’s Transport Research Innovation Grants (TRIG) Programme, Signalbox has developed a new algorithm for its innovative train detection technology. This gives operators at emergency services control room information about where an incident is taking place.

As part of the project, Signalbox also developed a ‘demonstrator’, a web app that allows a user, such as a control room handler, to search for a train manually (by inputting the operator or the train’s origin and destination station) or by using the caller’s location (latitude/longitude).

Importantly, the proposed solution does not require the caller to download an app or send an SMS to transmit their location.

Results from the trials that took place across the rail network showed that Signalbox’s algorithm matched passengers’ emergency calls to a train in the vast majority of cases and could correctly pinpoint the exact train in just under 8 out of 10 cases.

Without accurate live data from the railways, emergency call-handlers risk losing critical time asking questions about the caller’s location, affecting how quickly help is deployed.

A control room dashboard shows the caller’s train to the call handler, together with the information necessary for a more informed response.

Furthermore, a robust and effective emergency response to train incidents has been shown to have a measurable impact on reducing and managing crime, as well as reducing people’s fear of crime.

In the year 2019/2020 prior to the start of the pandemic, the British Transport Police (BTP) reported 68,313 notifiable crimes, an increase of 12%. Of these, the vast majority originated from a railway environment, and an estimated 50% from onboard a train.

Looking to the future, it is hoped that future iterations of Signalbox’s technology can be integrated with existing applications such as the Rail Guardian app which helps passengers report crimes to the British Transport Police.