SuperVia Trens Urbanos is a major Brazilian railway company based in Rio de Janeiro. Founded in 1998, SuperVia’s railroad network encompasses 102 stations on eight lines in 12 cities and serves more than 160 million passengers each year. When SuperVia embarked on a renovation of its main Central do Brasil terminal and other stations, a key goal was to improve audio, paging, video and control capabilities while streamlining the system’s operation.

After exploring different options, SuperVia deployed an IDX Information Delivery System from HARMAN Professional Solutions. The IDX system is a hardware and software solution that networks components from various HARMAN brands to provide paging, background music, pre-recorded messages and life safety functions for railways, airports, transit facilities and other commercial applications.

“Our main goal in installing the IDX system was to integrate the audio and video systems of communication we already had in place into a single tool for operating and controlling them,” said Washington Luiz Ferreira, Chief Compliance Officer for SuperVia Trens Urbanos. “Another key requirement was that the solution had to provide complete real-time monitoring for all of the assets in the system.”

The IDX installation at the Central do Brasil terminal incorporates eight BSS DT-715 dispatch microphone stations, four BSS BLU-800 digital signal processors, BSS Audio DAC Digital Audio Controllers, 18 Crown DCi Network 8|300N power amplifiers (including some that are used as backup units), AKG wall-mounted security and surveillance microphones throughout the facility and additional components. Four BSS Audio DDC-4 four-output digital display controllers are used to control the main information displays at the Centro do Brasil and Deodoro Station terminals.

As part of its comprehensive public address and safety capabilities, the IDX system provides automated announcements for the Centro do Brasil terminal and all 102 stations on the line. It enables complete, independent control of multiple zones, signal routing, switching and other information delivery functions.
Also, the system interfaces with the company’s existing SPRINS train schedule database and Engesis automated train-tracking interface.

“We chose the HARMAN IDX system because it not only fulfilled, but exceeded, the requirements we had when we initially specified what we needed,” said Ferreira. “Once we started to really get to know IDX’s capabilities, we realized it was far more capable than we had first thought. As a result, we’ve evolved our system requirements to move to a new level of quality in our communications capabilities.”

“You can do everything with the IDX system,” he said. “Nowhere else in the market can you find a single manufacturer that provides such high-quality equipment with such a huge range of features and offers premium after-sales support—all at a price that fit within our budget. It’s a dream come true.”

Since the initial installation, upgrades to the SuperVia IDX system have been slated for the future. “What we have today is exceptional, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg as to where we want to go with IDX,” said Ferreira. “Our goal is to have complete, 100 percent integration of all audio and video communications with all types of media in every single one of our stations, maintenance facilities and operational centers.”

Many thanks to Washington Luiz Ferreira for his insights into the SuperVia IDX system. Have you worked with sound systems in large transportation centers? Share your experience in the comments.