Conway supplies its vandal-resistant wall-mounted camera housings to the Dutch railway network

The Conway housings and Bosch cameras are being used for monitoring of passenger flow and volume

Conway Security Products are supplying their vandal-resistant ceiling and wall-mounted camera housings to the Dutch railway network, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), for use at underground and overland stations across large areas of Holland. Stations already fitted with the equipment include hubs such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven and Breda.

Conway's units were specified and installed by the company's Dutch partner, Hacousto Videotechniek, who have also implemented Bosch IP cameras and a video management system from Canadian innovator Genetec.

The Conway housings and Bosch cameras are being used for monitoring of passenger flow and volume at station concourses, and use of smartcard electronic ticketing similar to the London ‘Oyster' card and Hong Kong ‘Octopus' card. Much of the video monitoring is retrospective event-driven analysis, and the end-user is benefiting from high-quality (up to 4CIF images at 25 frames per second) which can be used for evidential purposes if necessary.

Chris Newman, a director of Conway, said: "Anyone using the UK rail and underground network will be familiar with the EHC4 and EHW4 camera housings as they have been used extensively for many years and were recently installed on the Stockholm Metro. It is this kind of pedigree which attracted Hacousto and their client."

The EHC4 and EHW4 combine simplicity with robust performance and flexibility in terms of usage. Installers working on railway applications both above and below ground are often limited in the scope for camera locations and must choose products that are adaptable. The EHC4 can be mounted both on the surface of a concrete wall or, just as easily, be part of a recess application if the station infrastructure has fascias.

Similarly, the standard EHC4 can be mounted on a wall to deliver a ‘portrait' angle of view along a corridor, for example. On applications such as railways, minimising installation and ‘downtime' is critical, and if a universal solution is available to the installer it will save engineering hours and money by reducing disruption to the site's core activity.

The units being supplied to Hacousto are painted yellow to suit their customer's strong corporate identity.  The whole manufacturing process is conducted at Conway's factory in the UK, and being able to finish products in colours to meet site applications or corporate identities is another reason why customers turn to Conway for this type of solution.

Conway's EHC4 and EHW4 camera housings (the codes indicate ceiling and wall-mounted variants) are manufactured from 1.4003 grade stainless steel and are securely closed in two positions. They feature a cast acrylic screen. Ingress rating is IP65 which means the housings give cameras comprehensive protection against dust and fumes as well as a familiar contaminant at all rail applications, brake pad particles which can be particularly intrusive. The housings have been designed to deter vandals and can be used with most major camera brands. A screen demister option (12-36v or 110-240v) is available.

With headquarters at Berkel en Rodenrijs in western Holland, Hacousto is an international contractor and consultant who develop and implement high-end solutions in video, public address and voice alarm (PA/VA), biometrics and fire alarms. Video surveillance, audio communication and broadcast automation are core activities, with delivery usually being on a turnkey basis across several disciplines.

The Dutch railway network has a history that goes back as far as 1839 when a 16km journey was made between Amsterdam and Haarlem. Today the network has 392 stations served by 2,600km of track with 2,000km being electrified. As with other European countries, EC directives have led to a separation of infrastructure and operating companies. The system has been divided into franchises with Nederlandse Spoorwegen operating the stations and dominating the passenger market with 4,800 scheduled trains daily serving 1.1 million passengers.