3 reasons for railway operators to make access control more efficient in 2021

Have you considered security management as part of your optimised railway operations? Are you still looking for alternative ways of providing access remotely without physical presence and key handouts?

If the new reality has not given your organisation extra motivation to update its existing security and access control system, here are three things to consider in your planning and budgeting next year:

1. A new normal with new access management requirements for digital solutions

The new normal is here to stay, and we need to ensure that we have all the prerequisites in place now and for the future. So, what can digital security and access control technologies offer your organisation’s daily operations? When limited physical presence, one-on-one contacts and resources make our daily operations challenging, digital locking and access control solutions guarantee operational efficiency.

Modern access control is a must-have for today’s railway operators. What does this mean in practice? It means integrated access management solutions that are seamlessly integrated with operating systems running daily routines and processes. In cloud-based solutions, the integration between two or several systems can be achieved more efficiently, and more use cases can be accomplished compared with on-premises systems.

Integrations enable the following benefits for railway operators:

Time savings, thanks to automated frequent tasks
Fewer human errors – when manual work decreases, the possibilities of natural human errors also decrease
Increased security, with precise and up-to-date information in every system – for example, keyholder or worker data can be transferred from the HR system.
Increased safety of service personnel when moving on the track side and completing vital maintenance tasks
Improved business, with smooth and reliable services the end result.

2. Savings in unnecessary resource use with access management

Climate change and resource scarcity are a growing concern worldwide, as our blog post about industry trends affecting innovations describes. For those of us in the security industry, this trend indicates that our solutions must help critical infrastructure operators function more efficiently, saving energy, time and money.

Railway operators typically have a large number of employees or subcontractors who are responsible for operating and maintaining remote sites.

If your staff is travelling to operate and maintain remote sites, the kilometres quickly add up: picking up keys from, and returning them to headquarters, adds another layer of cost and complication. Especially if the key turns out to be the wrong one at the site.

Access to your dispersed sites should not be a logistical challenge but a smooth part of your entire operation’s provision of the best service for your customers, with minimal consumption of time and energy resources.

Today, more sustainable solutions are available that make it possible to use mobile access or to update keys remotely anywhere and anytime from a mobile device. There is no risk of having the wrong key. Nor do you need to return to an administrator to receive or update your keys.

3. Growing numbers need to move around safely

During future lockdowns, there may not be traffic peaks, but it is a perfect time to take a look at your legacy system and organise your access control in a new and more efficient way.

As a global trend, urbanisation challenges vital transportation services. It is projected that the world’s urban population will increase from 55% to 68% (around 6.7 billion people) by 2050.

The growing urban population will need safe ways to travel without interruptions in services, plus an increasing number of shipping orders that will require freight services. In other words, the number of required services will increase, but people are also looking for services that are more accurate at the same time.

To meet these expectations and achieve maximum customer satisfaction, there is one last challenge that is typical of highly populated areas – vandalism and theft. When your railway infrastructure and critical points are over dispersed areas, robust and reliable components in your security and access control system are the cherry on the cake of more efficient railway operations.

Would you like to hear more about solutions that could optimise your entire railway operation?

Pauli Jormanainen
Regional Director, Asia Pacific
Abloy Oy