Skip to main content

Video surveillance upgrade for M6 toll motorway

Nine years after its opening, the 27-mile M6 toll motorway in the UK has had its video surveillance system upgraded in order to increase recording capacity and comply with changing data security requirements. The motorway bypasses the M6, one of the most congested pieces of road in Europe, which travels through Birmingham. Systems maintenance manager for operators Midland Expressway Limited (MEL), Paul Perry, explained why they decided to upgrade their system: “The existing Wavestore recording system has d
December 11, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
Nine years after its opening, the 27-mile M6 toll motorway in the UK has had its video surveillance system upgraded in order to increase recording capacity and comply with changing data security requirements.

The motorway bypasses the M6, one of the most congested pieces of road in Europe, which travels through Birmingham.

Systems maintenance manager for operators 7003 Midland Expressway Limited (MEL), Paul Perry, explained why they decided to upgrade their system:  “The existing Wavestore recording system has done everything we had expected of it but our requirements changed and the hardware was occasionally developing faults, although this was not a surprise as it had been in continuous use 24/7 for almost nine years.

“In particular we needed to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and this meant having the capability to simultaneously record and store video evidence of secure areas for 90 days. As a result we needed to invest in a substantial increase in the video surveillance system’s video storage capacity.”

MEL considered other options to replace the Wavestore system. “At the time we originally installed Wavestore, we were particularly impressed with the Wavestore GUI, which is simple to use and intuitive requiring little or no staff training” said Paul Parry. “Nine years is however a long time and particularly so when technology had been advancing at such a rapid rate. We therefore felt we should at least take a look at what other solutions were available.”

After considerable research, MEL decided to continue with a Wavestore solution, ordering larger capacity video servers, and the installation of an updated version of the Wavestore video management software. “Our research did not lead us to believe that any other manufacturer could do a better job and it was certainly a major advantage to stay with a system which our operators were happy working with and we were fully trained on. “At the time we originally installed Wavestore, we were particularly impressed with the Wavestore GUI, which is simple to use and intuitive requiring little or no staff training.

Images from over 100 cameras installed at six toll stations are stored on Wavestore servers and accessible at any time by operators in the MEL control room.
Wavestore digital video recording systems operate on the Linux system and can simultaneously record and display high quality images from analogue, network, HD, HD CCTV and infra-red cameras.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • A more equitable approach to road charging: is the technology there yet?
    September 8, 2023
    Thinking around road user charging, distance-based payments, and even mileage rationing is ever-widening with new concepts and suggestions being aired and brought forward every other week. Yet, as Jorgen Petersen of Systra explains, there are already many solutions in place throughout the world which promote modal shift, reduce traffic and improve air quality…
  • Kistler’s smooth ride on Caltrans info highway
    December 16, 2022
    Caltrans needed a solution to boost its outmoded traffic monitoring capability. Kistler’s KiTraffic Statistics met the California agency’s stringent requirements. And then came Covid…
  • UK government to invest in autonomous cars, low emission vehicles
    November 24, 2016
    Presenting his Autumn Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced investment in transportation, including £390 million for future transport and a major new investment in the UK transport infrastructure. The £390 million investment in future technology includes: investment in testing infrastructure for driverless cars; provision of at least 550 new electric and hydrogen buses, reduce the emissions of 1,500 existing buses and support taxis to become zero emission; installation of more charging points fo
  • Joining old and new in Canada’s Highway 407
    June 17, 2016
    David Arminas visits Canada’s Highway 407 ETR to see how the concession is working and hear about new arrangements for the roadway’s extension. The Toronto region is North America’s eighth largest metropolitan area and its roads become notoriously congested. In 1997 Highway 407, a 68km concrete toll motorway which skirts the northern edge of Toronto, was opened and initially operated by the province and CHIC - a consortium of four leading Ontario-based companies. Finance came from the Ontario Financing Auth