Skip to main content

Tyne and Wear Metro opts for Kapsch digital radio network

Having expanded its activities to the public transport sector, Kapsch CarrierCom’s public transport business unit has been successful in winning a US$13 million contract to implement a digital radio network based on the TETRA standard for Nexus, the strategic public transport body in the UK’s north-east. Based in Newcastle, Nexus owns and manages the Tyne and Wear Metro, which is used annually by 37 million passengers. The new digital radio system will be installed on the Metro’s fleet of 90 trains, repl
June 23, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Having expanded its activities to the public transport sector, 81 Kapsch CarrierCom’s public transport business unit has been successful in winning a US$13 million contract to implement a digital radio network based on the TETRA standard for 2105 Nexus, the strategic public transport body in the UK’s north-east.

Based in Newcastle, Nexus owns and manages the Tyne and Wear Metro, which is used annually by 37 million passengers. The new digital radio system will be installed on the Metro’s fleet of 90 trains, replacing the existing analogue system, contributing to the service’s operation and establishing the basis for Nexus to develop and expand its service offerings.

Kapsch will build the entire TETRA infrastructure; deliver cab radios (the communications devices used in the vehicles) as well as all the terminals for the control centers. The new communications system will provide full coverage of the network in the entire Nexus area of operation and will also provide a significantly better performance than the existing analogue system.

The project forms part of the US$662 million Metro all change modernisation programme, an 11 year programme of modernisation work on the Tyne and Wear Metro, funded by the UK Government.

"The Nexus contract is the largest of its kind so far in the public transport business unit, a field that we have entered only recently. It demonstrates quite remarkably that our strategy of applying our experience in planning, building, and operating communications solutions to public transport operations was exactly the right step to take,” says Kari Kapsch, CEO of Kapsch CarrierCom.

Director of Rail and Infrastructure for Nexus, Raymond Johnstone, said: “The work to replace the radio system on the Tyne and Wear Metro is a highly significant part of our US$662 million modernisation programme. It is vital work that will harness the very latest digital technology to vastly improve Metro’s communication system. The current analogue system is reliable but we will get much better performance from more modern telecommunications technology.”

Related Content

  • October 27, 2016
    Rio’s TMC rises to Olympic challenge
    Timothy Compston lifts the lid on Rio de Janeiro’s preparations for keeping its transport systems moving during the Olympics – and the outcome. Hosting the Olympics poses major traffic management challenges for any city and Rio was no exception – especially as it is already one of the world’s most congested cities. Beyond its normal 6.5 million inhabitants wanting to carry on their daily lives, in August Rio was also home to 11,300 athletes from 206 countries. Athletes who, without fail, had to reach their
  • August 8, 2014
    Kapsch completes major GSM-R projects
    Kapsch CarrierCom has completed the implementation of European Train Control Systems (ETCS) on two rail routes in the Czech republic. The two routes, Lanžhot in the Czech Republic to Kúty in Ukraine and Břeclav, Czech Republic to Hohenau, Austria, have been equipped with GSM for railways (GSM-R) technology to provide standardised signalling, control and train safety.
  • July 28, 2015
    Hitachi Rail Europe wins UK first traffic management contract
    Passengers on some of the busiest commuter lines in the UK can look forward to more frequent and more reliable trains following a deal to provide new traffic management technology on the Thameslink route through central London. Network Rail and the Thameslink Programme have signed a contract with Hitachi Rail Europe (HRE) to deliver a step-change in technology through state-of-the-art traffic management technology.
  • January 20, 2015
    Kapsch awarded important GSM-R project in the Czech Republic
    Czech Republic railway infrastructure manager SŽDC has awarded Kapsch CarrierCom a further project worth around US$17 million to install state of the art GSM-R technology on the 185 kilometre third rail transit corridor in the country. The project is due to be completed by autumn 2016. Kapsch has already successfully implemented this technology in the Czech Republic on several sections of rail lines. The new line connects Prague with the West-Bohemian cities and ends at the German border. Kapsch will