Network Rail

Network Rail – Northern City Line:  Case Study

The Challenge

When Network Rail required a mission-critical network capable of operating at extreme temperatures and offering the highest levels of reliability, they contacted one of their existing suppliers, Case Communications. Having used Case Communications rugged switches and routers, they knew these products would be able to withstand the tough and demanding environmental conditions, as well as being managed and easy to configure.

The Solution

Case Communications rugged switches operate from -40ºC to +75ºC and use the revolutionary X-Ring architecture, allowing up to 50 switches to be configured into an Ethernet ring topology operating at 1.25Gbps with the ability to re-route within milliseconds.

The entire network is controlled and managed by a dual ‘CaseView’ network management system. The main workstation and the remote terminal are located at Stoke and Doncaster respectively.Case Communications engineers configured and pre-staged the network at Case Communications offices allowing Network Rail engineers to thoroughly test and evaluate the system before it was shipped to site.

The network is operating in a ‘mission-critical’ environment where any failure would result in a loss of service and consequential heavy fines for Network Rail.
Northern City Line Case Study

The Benefits

Network Rail’s key reasons for selecting Case Communications were:

  • Case Communications has the skills and flexibility to customise and integrate the products to Network Rail’s requirements.
  • The products are easy to configure and use CaseView management system allows easy management of Case and third-party products
  • Support from Case Communications technical support and development staff.

For more information please contact Case Communications.

Download the Case Communications Network Rail Case Study (1772 downloads )