Swiss Federal Railways SBB

WEYTEC provisions upgraded KVM technology and a state-of-the-art control room at the surveillance center at the Zurich main train station.

SWISS FEDERAL RAILWAYS SBB

Swiss Federal Railways SBB is the national railway company of Switzerland. Headquartered in Bern, SBB is a stock corporation whose shares are held by the Swiss Confederation and the cantons. With over 32,000 employees, SBB transports 1.25 million passengers and 205,000 tons of freight every day. SBB was ranked first among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for its intensity of use, quality of service, and safety rating. 

SBB’s Infrastructure division is responsible for planning, deploying, operating and maintaining the fixed rail, rail power and telecom facilities, including rails, ballast, tunnels and bridges to the company’s own power plants and telecom network. SBB Infrastructure has been a WEYTEC customer for almost 10 years. 

Securitrans Public Transport Security AG is a joint venture of the SBB and Securitas, protecting objects, persons and infrastructure in railway stations and transportation construction sites across Switzerland. Securitrans is responsible for the surveillance center (Überwachungszentrale UeWZ) in the Zurich main train station and managed the upgrade project with WEYTEC.  

Scope of the project 

The Securitrans surveillance center had an existing WEYTEC control room solution based upon aging but reliable analog point-to-point WEYTEC connections and a video wall in the north wing of the Zurich main train station. The upgraded solution extended the scope of the existing control room to include state-of-the-art KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switching technology and a modern videowall. SBB Operations Managers can now share systems for control, fire supervision and building management.

Why smart KVM control rooms?  

The first benefit of the WEYTEC distributionPLATFORM solution is the ability for Operations Managers to share sources. SBB can now eliminate doubled up sources to achieve cost and maintenance efficiencies. 

The deployment of WEYTEC smartTOUCH multifunctional keyboards at the workplaces offers additional advantages.  Operators can now control all their sources and the video wall with a single keyboard and mouse, effortlessly toggling between systems and using specialized buttons on their customized keypads to streamline critical business processes. This shortens reaction times and minimizes human error in stress situations. But enhanced ergonomics not only heightens the efficiency of workflows, it is also fun! The staff can watch TV news on their smartTOUCH keyboards, changing channels and adjusting the volume directly on the touch screen. 

Mission-critical in the longer term, SBB is now positioned to realize redundant, back-up scenarios for security incidents at the Zürich main train station. In case of an emergencies such as evacuation or fire, operators will be able to continue working from fully functional workplaces at a business continuity location. The WEYTEC distributionPLATFORM makes it possible.

The Video Wall

One of the most interesting aspects of this SBB project was the upgrade of the mobile video wall mounting system. The video wall brackets, which were designed for 46" screens, had to be converted to accommodate 55" screens. WEYTEC worked closely with a metalworker to conceptualize, design and adapt the mobile mounting structure. WEYTEC provides a full portfolio of professional engineering and consulting services for custom-made solutions. 

You can download the case study here:

SBB Surveillance Center in Zurich Main Train Station

Facts & Figures

Workplace Optimization

  • 8 modern workplaces for operations, police and administrative staff 
  • Each with one smartTOUCH multifunctional keyboard and up to 8 workplace screens

WEYTEC distributionPLATFORM: 

  • 20+ sources (building management, video surveillance, security systems, office PCs) 
  • IP Remote Extenders (25 TX, 15 RX, 3 smartVISUAL RX)
  • IP/IO cards (backup scenarios and switching sources external to the WDP, e.g. TV and radio) 

Mini PCs: 

  • 4 ultraFLEX miniPCs (control, maintenance and smartVISUAL)

Visualization:

  • 2x3 Video wall (6x 55"HD displays) with smartVISUAL technology 
  • 27x 24" workplace displays 
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Testimonial

The SBB project was defined, ordered, manufactured, deployed and accepted on-budget and on-time within three months. Such expediency can only be achieved with outstanding collaboration between the customer and WEYTEC. According to Miguel Moreira, Head of Surveillance Center Region East, "The cooperation with WEYTEC was very good. The project implementation ran smoothly despite the 24h operations of the surveillance center (UeWZ). Everyone involved did an excellent job. We have been using WEYTEC components for more than seven years and we are very satisfied with them. We have become much more efficient with this system update. All systems can be controlled from every single workplace. The project was a complete success."

Sascha Grossmann, Project Manager at WEYTEC, adds “The cooperation was very good. The SBB project and facility management teams and the Operations Managers prepared everything as planned. Their fast turnaround times contributed to the speed of completion and the overall success of the project." 

We have been using WEYTEC components for more than seven years and we are very satisfied with them. We have become much more efficient with this system update. All systems can be controlled from every single workplace. The project was a complete success.

Miguel Moreira
Head of Surveillance Center Region East