Airwave and the London Underground – current situation

Report: 5
Date: 2 December 2004
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report outlines the current situation in regard to the provision of an effective radio communications system for use by MPS personnel on the London Underground, and is for the information of members. It indicates the steps being taken to provide a suitable system, the possible costs involved and other operational implications.

A. Recommendation

That members are asked to note the current position as summarised in this report.

B. Supporting information

1 The complicated nature of implementing the Airwave system into London Underground cannot be over emphasised, with major commercial and contractual issues arising through the involvement of ‘risk averse’ companies with the consequential result that progress has been extremely slow and at times non-existent.

2 Currently the MPS primary radio system, MetRadio, does not operate in the one hundred and twenty three London Underground stations that are not open to the sky; these are collectively known as Section 12 Stations (S12). Consequently, if MPS personnel are self-deploying or responding to an incident at an S12 station, an individual risk assessment should be undertaken by the officer/police staff involved as to whether they consider it safe to enter that environment. Before entering, MPS personnel are required to inform their home control room that they are entering the station and will be out of radio communications with the control room for the period that they are in the station. Whenever possible MPS personnel entering a S12 station are to either

1. ask a member of London Underground Limited (LUL) staff with an LUL radio to accompany them, so that they can call for assistance on behalf of the officer/police staff through the LUL control room if necessary; or
2. if a member of LUL staff is not able to leave their post and accompany the officer/police staff they should borrow an LUL radio so that they have at least one path of communication, albeit not to their own control room.

On exiting the station officers/police staff are required to re-establish contact with their home control room and confirm that they have left the station.

3 Equally, Airwave, the new national police digital radio system, will not work in the S.12 environment without the installation of a special scheme, which is prohibitively expensive for a single police service. Additionally, British Transport Police has the primary responsibility for the London Underground, and consequently the MPS Airwave Business Case did not include coverage on the London Underground.

4 Due to the extremely difficult operating environment and the lifespan of the Airwave contract, the overall costs of providing Airwave on the London Underground are expected to be between £130–£140 million unless compromises are found; this is not budgeted for and new funding will be required.

5 London Underground Limited is in the process of upgrading their existing radio system through the ‘Connect’ Project and coincidently has chosen the same radio infrastructure supplier as O2 Airwave; therefore the opportunity exists to provide a compatible solution.

6 The ‘Connect’ Project is scheduled to rollout radio coverage line-by-line, is due to start towards the end of 2005 and is likely to complete by end 2007. As the MPS Airwave migration has started and is now scheduled to be complete by the end of 2006 there will continue to be a major gap in coverage for some time.

7 Because of this proposed lengthy rollout an ‘Interim Solution’ for deployment at major incidents is being actively sought and will hopefully be delivered by the second quarter of 2005. It is emphasised that this will not support routine policing and the current mitigation processes will have to continue until full migration in three years time.

8. Careful management of Airwave rollout throughout London, along with comprehensive user trials to validate complete coverage both above and below ground will be essential to a successful project. Additionally, from MPS experience effective communication of where and when coverage is completely available will be a vital element of the work.

9. The Special Coverage Project Board within the Airwave Programme at PITO is actively involved in ensuring that the LUL implementation of Airwave is progressed. Keith Dickinson represents the MPA on this Board. The Airwave Steering Group sits above the Airwave Programme Board; the MPS is represented by Ailsa Beaton, and the MPA by Catherine Crawford. The Senior Responsible Officer for end-to-end Airwave implementation is Lee Lewis, an Under Secretary of State at the Home Office. The MPA may thus be assured that this important issue is receiving high-level attention.

10 The travelling public of London have a right to be able to travel safely on the underground network with the expectation that should they require assistance of any of the emergency services it will be delivered in the most responsive and helpful way possible. The consequences of not having an effective radio communications system on the London Underground stations has equal impact across all these groups within London society.

C. Equality and diversity implications

There are no specific race and equality issues arising from this update report.

D. Financial implications

There are no specific financial implications arising from this update report.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report author: Chief Inspector Steve Benn, Directorate of Information

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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