Our Track Record

10,000th Live Circuit Cutover for London Underground

London Underground carries more than 3 million passengers a day from 275 stations, and has a long history of innovation in technology.  It is the world's oldest and busiest rapid transit system, and depends on a reliable communications network for safe and secure operations.  For many years it has operated automatic train control systems, including new computer controlled transmission based signalling, and these services often share the same communications rooms and facilities as the telecommunications network. 

Today, a 21^st Century telecommunications network is being installed in some of the most demanding and difficult to reach locations imaginable.  Alongside this new infrastructure parts of the legacy network need to be re-used and reconnected, whilst maintaining these essential communications links. 

Under the £1.2 billion “Connect” programme to renew and refurbish transmission services, “Project Refresh” is replacing around 600 distribution frames for those vital communications links.  Refresh involves the replacement of the existing main distribution frames (MDF) installed at London Underground stations, and transfer of many thousands of copper connections.  With a 100% success rate in carrying out live cutovers from old to new connections, Brookvex Technical Services are maintaining the underground's ground breaking record of innovation.

Day to day operation and maintenance of transmission and communication services for London Underground (LUL) is the responsibility of Thales Telecommunications Services.  The communications frames provide key links to each location on the network with loops to local station telephony and other services.

The installation of new MDFs and connectors brings this equipment up to current standards, significantly reducing fault levels, simplifying maintenance and reducing costs.  The new frames also provide additional capacity, and room to grow new services as they are needed.  With a new transmission network, the common sense decision was to replace the existing frames, with a 21^st century design, and provide the improvement required by the underground.

Following success there, and the award of the contract, work began in earnest..........

Taken from an article written for Network Cabling News and reproduced with the kind permission of its author Rodger P Bradley.

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