Commuter comms

Network Rail has awarded Warwick-headquartered telecommunications company Telent a multi-million-pound contract to upgrade communications as part of the Thameslink Project.

Telent is contracted to design, install and commission an upgraded operational communications system and cable network for the project, which is designed to cater for increased commuter demand, including for the Olympics.

As track and stations are modernised to carry the new, higher-capacity trains, Telent will upgrade the existing communications infrastructure to support a new signalling system.

Telent will also provide new communications facilities for operational staff and emergency services, install new trackside telephones, tunnel radio systems and associated fibre and copper data-cable networks.