Firstco Rail Systems Integration at Heathrow Terminal 5

Established in 1998, Firstco is now a major force in the areas of technical consultancy, project management and systems integration. Working in a range of industries – notably transport, especially rail installations and airports; power and construction – Firstco specialises in controls and communication solutions for assignments of all sizes from buildings through to large scale infrastructure projects.

Firstco’s in-house team includes specialists in: electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, software engineering, consulting, project management and commissioning management.

Extending the Heathrow Express rail service to serve Terminal 5 has a vital part to play in the further development of Heathrow as one of the world’s most important airports and Firstco are delighted to have been chosen to help develop these facilities to a world class standard.

Heathrow Express Extension Systems Design Team

Working within BAA’s T5 Rail and Tunnels Communications Team, Firstco are providing their own team of 11 dedicated design engineers and support staff led by Firstco director, Mike Gray.

The team have delivered detailed production designs for:

• Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Networks for Tunnel Ventilation, Utilities, Public Address (PA), Train Information Displays (TIDs), Fire, CCTV systems
• Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA and Control Room modifications)
• CCTV Security People Counting/ Voice Alarm Public Address (PA) & Voice Recording
• Train Information Displays (LED Next Train Indicator and TFT LCD Information Boards) & Clocks
• Radio (Operational, Emergency Services, 2G & 3G)
• Telephones
• Ticketing
• Fibre Networks (OTN)
• Copper Networks

These have been brought together on a single user interface together within the existing Heathrow Express Operating Company’s control room. They work closely with other teams involved in the terminal and rail tunnels construction as well as the Programme’s management and Heathrow Express Operating Company.

The team’s designs will ensure continuity of the existing Heathrow Express passenger service between Paddington and Heathrow Terminals 1-4 and its successful extension into Terminal 5. The train service is viewed as an integral part of the successful completion and opening of the new terminal and Firstco are well aware of their responsibilities to BAA, Heathrow Express and the travelling public. Firstco have supported the control systems of the existing Heathrow Express operation through on-going design, project management and maintenance since it opened to the public in 1997.

PLC and SCADA Systems for Terminal 5 Rail

The Rail and Tunnels team selected Firstco to implement the Control & Communications systems for the extension of the Heathrow Express rail service into the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

Firstco’s eight-strong project team have designed, and are now building and testing, the PLC and SCADA systems that are used to control the new Terminal 5 assets. These include extensions to the existing Tunnel Control systems for Tunnel ventilation, fire, train information, public address, CCTV and utilities.

The contract requires Firstco to hand over the new sub-systems following factory acceptance testing. In addition, elements of the system must meet SIL2 safety levels.

Airside Road Tunnel’s (ART) Control and Communications Systems

Firstco used its project management skills to manage the delivery of BAA Heathrow Airport Ltd’s new Airside Road Tunnel's (ART) Control and Communication Systems so that these can be managed from the airport's 'Star' Control Centre. The project required the building of a twin bore road tunnel link between the planned Heathrow Terminal 5 (T5) area to the west of the airport and the existing Central Terminal Area.

Within the main tunnel bores, Firstco needed to provide:

• Tunnel Jet fans, located in pairs at regular intervals, to provide overall tunnel ventilation in each tunnel bore
• Tunnel lighting distributed throughout the tunnel, including concentrated luminance zones near the portals and battery backed standby lighting
• A firemain running the length of each tunnel bore, with trace heating near the portals
• Steel and traywork supporting LV, data and communication cabling and luminaires
• CCTV visual coverage and traffic monitoring analysis with smoke detection
• Combined Emergency Telephones and Fire Extinguisher panels located adjacent to and between each Escape Cross Passage
• Radio re-broadcast Leaky Feeder cable
• Variable message signs on the portal ramp roads
• Fireman’s Smoke Control Panel with inter-linking telephone on both ART portals

In addition, all mechanical and engineering (M&E) systems had to be controllable automatically. To make this happen, Firstco provided:

• Connection from equipment cabinets located in the ART tunnel portal load centres to provide external interfaces to the Control and Monitoring System (CMS), CCTV, Radio, Fire and Telecommunication sub-systems.
• Configuration of the existing HEART SCADA system to provide effective representation and operation of the M&E plant from the CMS for Airport Duty Engineering Managers in the Star Centre.
• Configuration of the existing HEART SCADA system to provide monitoring and operation of the new road link by Star Controllers, including traffic control and monitoring, smoke detection and other information from via the CMS.
• Expansion of the existing CCTV monitoring system or provision of an additional CCTV sub-system to provide effective visual coverage of the new road link and tunnel from within the Star Centre.
• Interfacing of the ART related emergency and maintenance telephones onto the site-wide HAL telephone system.
• Interfacing of the ART radio systems to the relevant external 'point of presence' or antenna feeds.
• Expansion and/or configuration of the existing airport fire station reporting system to integrate fire data and alarms from the tunnel fire detection system.

Firstco was able to balance the business and operational needs of the stakeholders, BAA, Heathrow Airport Ltd and the T5 Project leadership with the requirements of meeting the deliverables of the projects - cost, time, scope, and safety - to help ensure the successful delivery of this critical element of the T5 Project.

Finally

Through its core services of consultancy, system delivery and project management, Firstco provides its clients with a total solution - from concept to commissioning and maintenance, based on collaboration and integration with clients and partners.

Its mission is to advise, deliver and support high quality control and communications solutions that improve transport and workplace environments, create value for clients and make a positive difference to their end users.

Firstco’s approach is based on four core values:

• Service Excellence - achieving client confidence by truly understanding the business drivers and the project requirements, delivering the agreed solution to plan, managing issues and communicating clearly and regularly - while being easy to do business with and enjoyable to work with.
• Integrity - applying professional and technical expertise to ensure the right solution for the right reasons, as well as being open, honest and fair in all of its dealings.
• Teamwork - deploying the right blend of talent and experience to get the job done, and integrating effectively with client and third party personnel and activities.
• Development - continually seeking to enhance its own capabilities and processes, enabling it to remain innovative and challenging - and sharing this with its clients.