Improving safety at Ebbsfleet

Ebbsfleet International Station is one of the main railway stations on the prestigious High Speed 1 Eurostar cross-channel rail link from London St Pancras to Paris. The station is owned by HS1 Ltd. During busy periods passengers are often dropped off at the front of the station, despite the area being restricted to bus parking. A number of near misses have been recorded between vehicles and pedestrians. In an attempt to dissuade drivers from using this unsafe area to set down passengers, it was agreed that Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology should be installed. The presence of ANPR is to deter drivers, whilst enabling follow-up fines and actions to be taken against persistent offenders.

We were commissioned by WPB Contractors, on behalf of HS1, to design and install the new ANPR system to monitor vehicle activity in the busy area at the front of Ebbsfleet International Station.

The project specification required the installation of two ANPR cameras located on the approach road to the station, with surveillance and identification equipment monitored from the adjacent National Car Parks (NCP) control room.

Our design solution incorporated existing lighting columns to reduce the requirement for new civils bases and new cable ducting routes, as well as sourcing power for the cameras from the columns’ electrical supply.

This further reduced the requirement for new power supplies. Only structural and cable/load calculations were required to confirm compliance for the additional loads being added to the existing assets.

The team at L.B. Foster Telecoms demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the project’s scope and came up with a smart solution that made best use of existing infrastructure. That meant less disruption around the station and a more cost effective delivery.