DAB in Tunnels
jimbo
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I have been reliably informed that DAB is now available in
Rotherhythe Tunnel
Blackwall Tunnel
(in one of these only the southbound carrigeway - but can't remember which).
Also a third one has it with the word "link" in the name.
Sadly I was unable to note them down when I was told - however they only carry 5 muxes
BBC National DAB
Digital 1
London 1
London 2
London 3
If anyone can fill in the missing info please can you let us know.
As far as I am aware these are the only cases so fr of DAB in tunnels- hence a new thread!
Thanks for your help.
Rotherhythe Tunnel
Blackwall Tunnel
(in one of these only the southbound carrigeway - but can't remember which).
Also a third one has it with the word "link" in the name.
Sadly I was unable to note them down when I was told - however they only carry 5 muxes
BBC National DAB
Digital 1
London 1
London 2
London 3
If anyone can fill in the missing info please can you let us know.
As far as I am aware these are the only cases so fr of DAB in tunnels- hence a new thread!
Thanks for your help.
0
Comments
Rotherhithe Tunnel is only single bore with two way traffic (not nice to drive at all) so your informant must have been referring to Blackwall.
Dartford and Limehouse Link tunnels also have FM and Dartford in particular should be a priority for conversion.
But I think Blackwall and Rotherhithe were upgraded by Tyco relatively recently so I guess they were contracted to upgrade their systems together.
As to why SDL is missing, I guess the spec was written and contracted before it launched.
Thanks for clarification
It was
Blackwall Southbound
Rotherhythe
Limehouse Link
And it is the same 5 muxes in all 3 cases.
No info for Mersey Tunnels yet but will keep my ears peeled!
They are all TFL tunnels (and they have money). You would expect them to only equip national + London muxes, but SDL obviously missed the party.
Dartford is Highways England so we'll probably be waiting some time for an upgrade....
Given that tunnels are refurbished only at 20 - 30 year intervals, the radio specification was intended to be as future proof as possible. Rotherhithe is one of the oldest road tunnels anywhere, and it was the first in the world to have Radio Public Address via DAB.
Unfortunately the BWT S/B refurbishment project was put on hold to avoid disrupting the Millennium Dome, and the other London muxes and SDL were not added to the specification as variation orders.
Later on when BWT N/B was refurbished there was even more severe pressure on funding so by then a cheap and cheerful FM solution was all that was affordable: DAB was omitted because in-vehicle take up was still very low. Similarly, MW and LW were also omitted.
It must be remembered that coverage is provided to facilitate Radio Public Address during incidents and evacuations and that programme coverage is essentially a fringe benefit.
I have been through Limehouse a couple of times when the PA feature was (mal)functioning - FM RDS on all channels states 'ALERT' IIRC and the audio was silent on all channels.
Interesting how this will be replicated on DAB.
Up until now if you were listening to a DAB station with FM coverage your car radio would AF-follow to FM when you entered the tunnel. DAB-only stations just cut out.
The equipment had been installed yonks ago, albeit operating on and off.
It does indeed, two versions of Capital doesn't it?
However Global haven't linked Capital L'pool to the DAB version so the car doesn't switch to the FM version. I have no idea who to contact at Global about it, they might not even realise.
Sounds like the control room forgot to restore normal programming after using the Radio Public Address facility.
Looks like Simoco a former division of Pye/Philips has taken over the TFL contract from Tyco. They may possibly add DÀB to the Blackwell north tunnel?
Highways Agency had its budget cut in 2010 and also closed Traffic radio
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/08/traffic-radio-service-cut
There was a remote chance Traffic radio might return to DAB, and Inrix are running it's own online station http://www.travelradio.org.uk but the present Government see it seem to have restored the HA funding but has made Highways England a public corporation.
In France the funding for traffic radio and presumably tunnel repeaters come from tolls but the UK Government so far is not adding more toll roads.