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Reach Issue 6 2014 | 19
followed at 23:15 by a general
brie„ng to all parties. A ‘Silver’
control was established at Sudbrook
Pumping Station where most of the
communications were handled via
Airwave radios. There was also a
dedicated control in Gwent Police
headquarters in Cwmbrân to manage
the wider policing implications.
“The event started as planned
with the train driver stopping in
the tunnel and using the tunnel’s
emergency phone system to contact
his control and advise them of the
incident. This highlighted an issue
for us, as no call was made at that
point by the rail services to Gwent
Police to advise us that the incident
had happened – we were eventually
noti„ed by the British Transport
Police. From this point, however, the
exercise continued as planned and
was generally deemed to have been
a success.”
As part of Airwave’s normal
preparation for any such planned
event, a quarantine was placed
on all the sites in the area to prevent
any maintenance work impacting
on service. A Special Event
document was compiled and
agreed with Gwent Police, which
acted as a brie„ng to Airwave’s
Service Desk and Network
Management Centre (NMC).
Airwave provided a special
coverage solution in the tunnel,
which was checked immediately
prior to the event. Gwent Police
are customers of Airwave’s Insite
management tool and made
extensive use of this to manage
their users and the radio traf„c.
At the request of Gwent Police,
Airwave provided dedicated
monitoring resource from the
NMC, looking after the site
capacity and being on hand to
respond instantly in the event
of any „ne tuning requirements.
Graeme concludes: “How did
Airwave perform – very well! There
were no reported problems, with
coverage and capacity available where
needed at all times. The Insite system
proved its worth with invaluable
information. The arrangements for
dedicated resource from the NMC
were exactly as we requested,
and regular communication was
maintained throughout.”
Insite
Insite is a powerful web-
based management and
reporting solution that
enables customers to
get more value from their
Airwave Service.
It empowers organisations
to maximise operational
ef„ciencies, reduce costs
and, through the provision
of real-time information,
enables faster and more
informed decision making.
Insite brings all the Airwave
Service information
together into one place,
providing instant access
that empowers users and
enables them to improve
public service performance.
Lessons learned
The value of these exercises is to highlight issues
that need to be addressed, to ensure enhanced
response. Lessons learned from Operation
Ghost Train included:
» The initial declaration that the incident
had started should have been made
clearer to all agencies.
» Not all agencies made use of the ‘ES1’
talkgroup at the start even though this
was agreed in the plan. There was also
some confusion where some agencies
thought this needed to be switched on
in some way, not understanding that it
is available at all times.
» Airwave Insite was used by Gwent Police
but it could have been more effective
had there been data sharing agreed
before the event. Use of the Network
Management Centre worked around
this problem – we expect this is how
a real incident would work.
» There was some confusion over the
correct hailing name for Gwent Police.
» It was not clear where a single log of
the incident should reside.
Checking the status: Station Manager Andy Willcocks, Avon FRS, Tactical
Advisor, left, and Station Manager Peter Howard-Jones, South Wales FRS,
Liaison Of cer and Tactical Advisor.
Please send your news and
views to Reach magazine’s
editor, Susan Quigley, at
reach@airwavesolutions.co.uk