Captec help deliver Oyster Card system across London Underground

The London Underground network is the largest in the world. With such a critical transport infrastructure the efficient movement of passengers through the underground is paramount to London’s success as a world leading capital city. Underpinning this efficiency, Captec industrial computers have been deployed to support the reliable operation of the Oyster card system which enables ticketless travel in multiple forms of transport across London.

The Oyster card is an RFID based form of electronic ticketing which allows travellers to use a number of different travel systems across London including rail, buses, trams, and some river boat services. With over 10 million Oyster cards in circulation to date and more than 80% of all journeys on services using the Oyster card, reliability of the system is essential.  Overseeing the smooth operation of the Oyster system is a sophisticated collection of computers running complex software. 

The underground rail network is a very hostile operating environment with a wide variety of technical challenges undermining the reliable operation of any computer platform.  For this reason Captec industrial computers for transport were selected by the prime systems integrator in the deployment.  As specialist designers and manufacturers of industrial computers for hostile environments, and with extensive experience in deploying computers in rail applications, captec engineers were able to design into the rugged computers the level of protection needed against the expected hostilities.  Key technical aspects addressed by Captec’s engineering team included:

Thermal Management – To protect the industrial computers from wide temperature range in the control rooms anywhere from -10 to +50°C.

Anti-Vibration and Shock – To protect the industrial computers from the extensive vibration transferred by the constant movement of the trains.

Dust Ingress – To protect the industrial computers from the all pervasive carbon dust within the air of the underground.

Zero Halogen Low Smoke – To minimise the smoke emission in the event of combustion.

Power Management – To protect the industrial computers from the spikes and electrical noise in the mains supply typical in underground rail as well as budget power allocation for maximum efficiency and minimum thermal impact through inefficiency.

The computer solution was based on 19” rack mounted ruggedized computer systems capable of being deployed in the control rooms of the underground stations. The systems were based on Captec’s COTS+ model of selecting the best of breed COTS (Commercially Off The Shelf) components for cost effectiveness, PLUS Captec’s technical engineering expertise to protect these more vulnerable components against the hostilities of the operating environment.  Finally, Captec’s engineering team oversaw the compliance testing and certification of the equipment to comply to London Underground standards.

The Oyster card system has been a huge success for the London Underground and commuters alike ensuring a reduction in congestion at peak commuting times.  Which is particularly relevant with the onset of the 2012 Olympic games in London and the role of the underground in the mass transit of all the additional expected passenger traffic.

A world where industrial computers can operate reliably in any environment for the benefit of mankind

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