Media centre

Friday 10 Oct 2003

EAST ANGLIA’S GOT IT UNDER CONTROL

Region & Route:

| Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

| Southern

On 8 October 2003, a state-of-the-art rail incident control van was unveiled in Network Rail’s East Anglia Region. At a cost of £60,000 a simple white van has been transformed into a mobile control centre, equipped with the technological resources necessary to deal with any major incident. Telecommunications are aided through internet access, an array of phones, fax machine, scanner, NRN (National Radio Network) base station and a CCTV system that relays pictures back to East Anglia Region’s control centres.  A complex satellite navigation programme also guides the driver to any destination entered into the system. David Coker, Liverpool Street Control Centre Manager, who unveiled the van said: “We attended a serious train fire in Colchester one long, cold, wet night back in March and the need for a mobile control centre suddenly became apparent.  As well as minor incidents, we will also use the van for training purposes and to raise the profile of route crime issues, taking it to events such as the Norfolk Show and on school visits.” -more-                                                                                                                                                Van-2 East Anglia’s Regional Director Mark Phillips agreed that it was money well spent, saying:  “It has been nearly a year since the initial idea to purchase one of these. Obviously we hope that we will never have cause to use it at a major incident, but it is reassuring to know that we are well prepared and will be able to handle events effectively and efficiently.”