The Alarm Monitoring Centre of PKP Energetyka enhances railway infrastructure security

PKP Energetyka has launched the Alarm Monitoring Centre – another investment by the company in securing the infrastructure supplying Polish railways with energy, guaranteeing continuity and quality of energy supply. There are already 50 facilities integrated with the system. Their number will grow, so that by 2024 the AMC will cover the whole of Poland – almost 1,200 strategic infrastructure facilities, including critical infrastructure. The project budget is nearly PLN 30 million.

The opening of the Alarm Monitoring Centre will enhance the security of the railway and energy infrastructure for which PKP Energetyka is responsible. That is a total of 1,200 facilities across Poland, including a variety of energy infrastructure facilities, such as: 486 traction substations, 328 sectioning cabins, fuel stations or Regional Dispatch Offices of PKP Energetyka. In addition, the AMC system will cover all the maintenance trains of PKP Energetyka. The new system is an important component for ensuring the highest quality of operation for the entire railway sector and its continuity, which is not only one of the primary means of transport for goods and passengers, but also a strategic part of the entire economy.

The security of the infrastructure that supplies power, among other things, to Poland’s railways, including critical infrastructure, is a key element in the functioning of the entire sector, the importance of which we have recently seen particularly vividly during the COVID pandemic and now during the war in Ukraine. The Alarm Monitoring Centre is another element of the digitalised ecosystem for ensuring the continuity of the highest quality power supply that we are implementing at PKP Energetyka. The investment in the Centre means that ultimately, nearly 1,200 railway infrastructure facilities across Poland will be protected even more effectively. “The AMC is a nationwide security shield for the railway sector,” says Marek Kleszczewski, a Member of the Management Board of PKP Energetyka.

The Alarm Monitoring Centre “hears, sees, analyses and responds.” It allows video surveillance and the monitoring of alarm signals. The AMC receives all signals from facilities and responds to even the smallest of them, allowing the highest precision and accuracy in the transmission of threat information, and consequently, a rapid and adequate response to incidents.

“The Alarm Monitoring Centre is a very sophisticated system whose unique feature is its precision and ability to monitor any event in real time. The AMC is a kind of command centre – the integrated technology, algorithms and procedures form a tight security shield. This is possible thanks to the installation of more than 8,000 IDS sensors, 1,150 IDS control panels, 5,000 CCTV cameras and nearly 400 recorders at nearly 1,200 different railway and energy facilities,” adds Tomasz Witosławski, Director of the Security Office of PKP Energetyka.

Key benefits provided by the AMC include a reduced decision-making process in response to hazards, ease of acquiring precise evidence, as well as minimisation and early detection of potential accident risks.