- National Roads Telecommunications Services
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The National Roads Telecommunications Services is the fibre-optic network of communication and control that the Highways Agency uses to monitor England's roads. Its highly complex design has allowed active traffic management, that has led to managed motorways.
Contents
History
Previous to 2005, the motorway network was controlled by the National Motorway Communication System (NMCS). This was not inherently fibre-optic or digitally controlled.
The £490 million contract for the NRTS was awarded to the GeneSYS Consortium on 19 September 2005. This was a group of companies lead by Fluor (Fluor Corporation) and is a Public–private partnership.
The system is complex enough to allow a national scheme of road pricing, possibly using radio-frequency identification tags. The cost of the project was described by the Association of British Drivers as being an awful lot to spend just for signs saying that motorways are closed and that you should not drink and drive.
Structure
The NRTS is an intelligent transportation system based at the Quintin Business Park at Quinton, Birmingham. Video images are sent over fibre-optic cables to form a switched video network. The fibre-optic system was deployed with Guardian-Lite 3700[1] controllers, which allow IP Ethernet and (full bandwidth) uncompressed video signals to be sent at the same time, made (and invented) by AMG Systems of Biggleswade. The system uses a dual fibre cable. The system is resilient because, using the IP protocol, it can re-route signals if cables are damaged.
Companies
- Peek Traffic
- Mott MacDonald
- Alcatel-Lucent - based the system on its 1692 Metrospan Edge CWDM (coarse wavelength-division multiplexing) platform[2], with the 7750 Service Router[3], and OmniPCX enterprise[4] voice-over-IP switch (made by the CSBU subsidiary). Alcatel-Lucent own Genesys Conferencing.
Components
- TVSS - CCTV Slave Station - the CCTV cameras located on poles located next to the highway.
- Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling (MIDAS) - detection loops
- Regional Control Centre (RCC) - where the video images are displayed. The set of video displays at the RCC is known as a TVBS - CCTV Base Station. The TVBS systems at North-West and East Midlands RCCs were built by Simulation Systems of Yatton in North Somerset, and the others were made by Initial Fire and Security (now owned by Chubb Security). There are seven RCCs - RCC Calder Park at the Calder Business Park in Crigglestone off the A636 at junction 39 of the M1, RCC Rob Lane between the A49 and M6 at Newton-le-Willows, RCC Nottingham on the Nottingham Business Park off the A6002 near junction 26 of the M1, RCC Quinton on the Quinton Business Park off the A456 near junction 3 of the M5, RCC South Mimms at the South Mimms services near junction 23 of the M25, RCC Avonmouth off the A4 in Avonmouth near junction 18 of the M5, and RCC Godstone off the B2235 in Godstone near junction 6 of the M25.[5]
- NRTS regional offices - NRTS Midlands is on the Pinewood Business Park in Marston Green, and NRTS Southern is in St Albans
- Variable-message signs
- Emergency roadside telephones
- Fog detection system
Function
It controls traffic on England's motorways and major A roads.
Customers of the NRTS
- Her Majesty's traffic police (Road Policing Units) and their Police Control Offices
- Traffic England - real-time website
- Traffic Radio
- TrafficMaster
See also
Message signs at junction 11 of the M25
References
External links
Video clips
News items
Categories:- Telecommunications in the United Kingdom
- Intelligent transportation systems
- Road transport in England
- Department for Transport
- 2005 establishments in England
- Public–private partnership projects in the United Kingdom
- Organisations based in Birmingham, West Midlands
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