Tait has customised an emergency radio communications solution for Britomart, a transport centre in Auckland, New Zealand which links the city's train, bus and ferry services.

Located in Auckland's central business district, Britomart is the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken by a local authority in New Zealand, at a total cost of NZ$204 million.

Britomart needed an emergency radio communications system to be used primarily by the city's public safety providers - the New Zealand Fire Service and the New Zealand Police - that would give excellent underground coverage and above ground linking to control centres.

The underground area of Britomart includes 100 metres of concourses, 200 metres of station platforms and 500 metres of underground tunnels.Tait provided a customised solution based around a seven-channel system using T800 base station/repeaters which allows the New Zealand Fire Service and Police to communicate effectively, both underground and above ground to their respective control centres.

To get the radio signals to the emergency services, "leaky feeders" were used in the tunnels and passageways, while discrete antennas were used on the platforms and concourse areas. One of the challenges Tait overcame was to ensure the antennas would blend in with the architectural design of the complex.

To find out more about the Tait solution for Britomart, read this case study.