Hikvision’s network digital video recorders secure Qinghai-Tibet railway

China Railway Signal & Communication Corp. (CRSC) decided to use the products from Hikvision

Sprawling over 1,142 kilometers, Qinghai-Tibet Railway which plays a significant role in accelerating the social and economic development of Qinghai Province and Tibet Autonomous Region in China, is the highest elevated railway all over the world with the average elevation of about 4,500 meters above the sea level. With the height and extreme weather the railway cut across, it's very difficult for security personnel to maintain the surveillance systems along the railway. Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company, which is managed by China's Ministry of Railway, therefore, needed a highly stabilized surveillance system to ensure the security and safety of the railway and the train, to improve transportation efficiency, and to save manpower.

Challenges

As a vast section of Qinghai-Tibet Railway is covered by tundra, the extreme climate conditions such as sand and snow storms add to the challenges of the daily maintenance of the railway. The priority in security for Qinghai-Tibet Railway, therefore, is to create a stable and reliable video surveillance system that runs virtually maintenance-free in the region where only a few technical personnel is available in such extreme environment. Choosing the products that can function normally in such kind of severe conditions, however, is difficult. There are only a few companies in the world that can supply products with comprehensive functionalities and ultra-high performance specifications that meet the requirement of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

Solutions

After a thorough investigation and research, China Railway Signal & Communication Corp. (CRSC) that is responsible for the security system integration of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, decided to use the products from Hikvision, the leading digital surveillance products supplier with the headquarters in China, to deliver a powerful surveillance system and guarantee the safety of the railway. There are in total 200 sets of HIKVISION DS-8016-HC Network DVRs installed in the system.

DS-8016-HC, a 16-channel Network DVR, adopts H.264 video compression technology, which enables real-time viewing and playback with the resolution up to D1. This makes it possible for the security personnel at the control center to respond to the emergencies within the shortest time. DS-8016-HC also supports 16-channel audio in and out, which means the security personnel at the control center can directly communicate to the staffs at individual stations in real-time once the emergencies occur.

DS-8016-HC also supports multiple hard disk drives with each up to 2000 GB, which comply with the requirement of maximum storage at Qinghai-Tibet Railway. With the advantages of high quality, ease of use, lower power consumption, and minimum maintenance efforts, DS-8016-HC has been installed in critical areas like railway stations and bridges to monitor and manage the operations and facility construction.

"With the reliable network surveillance system that Hikvision's Network DVRs built up, the railway has dramatically increased the manageability and simplified the system maintenance, which is an extremely difficult task in such a remote and challenging environment," said one of the managers of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company.