IndigoVision improves safety, security and speed on Santiago Metro in Chile

Santiago's Metro system in Chile

Passengers on the Santiago Metro system can travel more safely to their destinations due to a new security monitoring system from IndigoVision.

More than two million passengers a day travel on the Santiago metro, the backbone of the Chilean capital’s public transport system. Metro system management was keen to ensure the security of passengers -- both in the sense of safer travel and reduced crime -- and worked with IndigoVision’s partner, Diebold Bitelco Chile, to find the ideal solution.

The new system has helped Santiago Metro to improve the response to incidents, says a news release issued on Jan. 25 by IndigoVision. Security monitoring at each station has also been enhanced.

Security personnel have been able to track individuals responsible for crime and apprehend them -- including capturing images of an offender who shot and killed two passengers and wounded four others in a metro carriage on July 17, 2011. The movement of passengers can also be analyzed, for safety and speed of transit, says the company.

Felipe Bravo Busta, technology sub project manager on the Metro system, ssaid, “IndigoVision’s solution has made for a safer Metro system in all senses -- lower crime and less risk of accidents due to overcrowding.”

IndigoVision won the contract from the Santiago authorities due to the quality of the system it could provide, says the news release. The ability to search recorded footage and easily identify incidents, and to keep the project within budget, were also important factors.

The system now covers 48 stations. All existing cameras were able to be re-used by connecting them to the network via IndigoVision 9000 video encoders. There are 415 fixed and 406 PTZ cameras across the Metro network.

A key to the successful operation of the system was the decision to deploy a distributed and scalable IP video solution. IndigoVision's distributed architecture replicates the configuration data throughout the system, so that no central server is required.

Video is recorded onto 43 IndigoVision Windows Network Video Recorders (NVRs). Some backup NVR units are also in place. If any NVR be taken off-line, the backup NVRs will automatically start recording.

Due to the installation of a 56 node optical fiber network within 48 stations across the city, data can be transferred to Control Center, IndigoVision’s state-of-the-art video management software. Another system advantage is the alarm escalation integrated into Control Center, which ensures that all incidents will be registered and alerts relevant staff members to incidents in their areas.