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Predator MultiViewers from Zandar help Long Island Rail Road to 'mind the gap'

Three Predator VC12 MultiViewers from Zandar Technologies are helping drivers and passengers on a New York railway line to ‘mind the gap'.  The MultiViewers are part of a $1.3million CCTV system that has been installed at Syosset station on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in Nassau County, to improve passenger safety and reduce the risk of accidents.

Each of the station's two platforms has been fitted with 12 CCTV cameras and three 46-inch LCD flat-screen monitors that receive the camera feeds.  The monitors are positioned so that at least one will be visible to the head conductor of each train, who is in the second or fourth car, depending on the length of the train and the direction it is heading.

With the help of the MultiViewers, each monitor can display any of the 12 views of that side of the station.  This gives conductors an unobstructed view of the length of the train as it runs around Syosset station's unusual curve.  One MultiViewer is used for each platform, with the third on standby as a backup.

Like many stations on the LIRR, Syosset has a large gap between the train and the platform.  State senator Carl L Marcellino, who secured a grant for the CCTV network, says it will enable staff "to see any problem that has occurred" and not make it worse by moving the train.  "The whole idea is to prevent an accident from becoming a tragedy," Marcellino adds.

Zandar's Predator VC12 processes up to 12 full-motion composite video sources in real time for both confidence and quality monitoring purposes.  Each unit can also be expanded to add a combination of 2-4 video or computer inputs.  It includes Zandar's ZdH Dual Head capability and Z-Configurator control software as standard.

The Syosset system was supplied by Omnivue and specified by the LIRR.  The LIRR required a system that could reproduce outstanding image quality from the cameras and the Zandar Predator VC12 was the only system of its type that can split the images into six pictures and display them on a single screen.  Z-Configurator is used to set up the display and zoom into individual cameras.  The product has been working 24-7 since installation.

Prior to the installation of the system, Syosset station witnessed unacceptably high numbers of so-called ‘gap injuries' to passengers, with three people falling through the gap on the same day in January 1996.  The LIRR says some gap will always be necessary to ensure the smooth running of trains - underlining the need for systems such as that installed at Syosset.