Beyond supervision

Deeper integration creates new opportunities for metro operators

Automation is the key to improving the efficiency of metro control centre operations. But extending automation is seldom straightforward, because many critical functions – such as train supervision, power management and passenger information – remain trapped in functional silos. Integrating these functions using conventional architectures is costly and the resulting systems are often complex and inflexible


Award-winning technology
Thales Hypervisor is an entirely new architecture that eliminates silos and enables operators to build powerful, integrated supervision systems with automated processes backed by comprehensive decision support.

The solution was recently granted a prestigious Design Observer award in recognition of its unique human-machine interface, which provides operators with an unprecedented ability to visualise and control operations.

“Our solution eases the workload of control centre staff in several ways” says Arnaud Besse, Innovation Director for Transportation Systems, Thales. “The first is to provide step-by-step guidance with decision support. The next is to actually automate some of those steps using macro commands.”

The integration dividend
Thales Hypervisor provides a single interface with links to all the underlying systems, so any situation can be brought under control. “Staff can focus on solving problems, rather than worrying about how to operate and monitor different equipment and sensors” stresses Mr. Besse.

Train supervision and control, communications, power and fixed equipment SCADA, passenger information, CCTV and even ticketing can all be integrated with Thales Hypervisor.

The ability to link these functions has significant implications for the way operations are managed, from handling incidents, such as fires and power failures (see box) to reducing energy demand.

An open solution
Every part of the solution is underpinned by Thales’ open operations expertise, including the facility for operators to develop their own checklists and to automate procedures based on their own business rules.

“We’ve created a tool that enables the operator to define procedures throughout the lifecycle of the solution” says Mr. Besse. “It’s very easy to change and you don’t need to be a computer programmer to do it.”

Thales Hypervisor is built on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), so it’s possible to integrate any application from any supplier. Costs and complexity are reduced. And because integration takes place within the SOA framework, operators can retain the functionality of existing applications.