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Over 200 people have died in Europe as result of tunnel fires in the last decade. 16 fire accidents occurred in road tunnels in Europe from 1986 until 2006. Unfortunately, public transportation fire is also not a rare phenomenon. In addition to the above, a great menace of our time is terrorism. Transportation means, hubs and stations are targets of terrorist attacks, because of the easy access and escape for the terrorists and the fact that congregations of strangers guarantee anonymity, but also because crowds in contained environments are vulnerable to conventional explosives and unconventional weapons.
SAVE ME aims to develop a system that detects disaster events in public transport terminals / vehicles and critical infrastructures (i.e. tunnels and bridges) and supports quick and optimal mass evacuation guidance, to save the lives of the general public and the rescuers, giving particular emphasis to the most vulnerable travellers.
There are two pilot sites where the SAVE ME systems will be
integrated and tested:
- Gotthard road tunnel in Switzerland, which is 17 km long and has a single tube. It is the third longest road tunnel worldwide. It is part of the Swiss A2, one of the major European road connections through the Alps, which connects the Italian border (Chiasso) with Germany and France (Basel).
- The Metro Rapid Transit System, which is operated by NEXUS and consists of two lines, passes through the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and the Cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland. Their responsibility covers the overseeing of the provision of all modes of public transport within Tyne and Wear, much of which is provided by private bus companies. However the Nexus also own and operate the Tyne and Wear Metro system, which is the second largest LRT metro system in the UK, being the London Underground the more extensive. The Metro system is the first in the UK to have mobile phone antennae installed in the tunnels.