Stationary emergency call devices in trains ensure fast help for passengers in emergency situations. The downside: due to their fixed installation, the control panels are often not directly accessible or the passenger is too inhibited to use the control panel, wanting to avoid drawing the attention of an aggressor. That is why in-tech has developed a new emergency call app that – aside from using the stationary control panels – makes it possible to trigger an emergency call on board a train using a smartphone. Then the conductor is informed on his tablet and establishes a voice connection with the passenger.

“It is simultaneously possible to precisely localise the caller using beacons in the vehicle. Even surveillance cameras or the camera of the caller can be connected to the conductor’s tablet. Thus, the conductor rapidly obtains an overview of the situation and finds the passenger quickly,” adds André Brückmann, Transport Systems Department Manager at in-tech industry GmbH.

The emergency call app was developed as a showcase application for the integrated, modular “Train-IT” platform from Siemens, which supports the realisation of various solutions for operators, train personnel and passengers. Established standards permit the use of available, low-cost hardware and software components, shorten development times and facilitate integration into the vehicle. Train-IT is separate from the approval and safety-related vehicle control level (Train Control) and has a secure data exchange interface as well as a standardised land side interface.

To implement the emergency call service developed by in-tech, resources in addition to the fixed Train-IT installation had to be integrated securely: video cameras for example, control panels and localisation devices, and the tablets and mobile phones of passengers. In addition to offering a genuine benefit, this application is therefore ideal to check the performance and security of the infrastructure along with its interfaces.