GBP12.3 million telecommunications contract signed

The network installed by Thales will meet the specific requirements of each East London line railway station, allowing remotely located operators to monitor and control individual station assets.

Thales UK has been chosen to supply the entire telecommunications infrastructure for Phase 1 of the new East London railway line.

The telecommunications support will play a key role in delivering London's first purpose-built rail service that will be completed ahead of the 2012 Olympics.

The contract, worth GBP12.3 million, was awarded by the Balfour Beatty Carillion Joint Venture (BBC-JV), the main works contractor on the project working for Transport for London.

The project, which starts immediately, involves providing infrastructure between Dalston Junction in the north and New Cross Gate and New Cross in the south.

The contract includes a turnkey design and the supply of a resilient, fixed telecommunications backbone network infrastructure, comprising fibre and copper cabling networks, a synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) transmission network and high-speed wide area networks (WAN).

The network will meet the specific requirements of each East London line railway station, allowing remotely located operators to monitor and control individual station assets and systems including public help points, public address, security and surveillance closed circuit television, passenger information displays and emergency systems.

The work will make rail journeys easier and reduce congestion around central London stations.

The first phase of the contract is scheduled for completion by 2010.

Further plans for extension include from Dalston Junction to Highbury and Islington, with additional works to extend the line further South and West.

Ken Thornton, BBC-JV Project Manager, said: "Thales was a good choice for the project due to its strong technical capabilities, its understanding of the systems within the Transport for London and London Underground environment and a tested ability to deliver complex, multidiscipline and safety critical projects of this kind".

"The telecommunications infrastructure that is put in place now will play an integral role in the line long after the 2012 Olympics, stressing the need to work with an experienced, technical services provider such as Thales".

Justin Walker, UK Managing Director of Thales' security solutions and services business in the UK, says: "This is a significant win for us and we are pleased to be involved in a project that forms part of a new era for the London transport network".

"This success confirms Thales' strength in delivering integrated telecommunications infrastructure for ground transportation systems across the UK and is due to our heritage of delivering secure solutions and systems for complex, integrated projects of this scale".

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