Improved communications for Tyne and Wear metro

Sepura terminals are part of a technical solution designed by their established partner Schnoor Industrieelektronik GmbH & Co.KG. This solution enabled Kapsch CarrierCom, Schnoor’s Austria-based partner, to win NEXUS’ competitive tender for the replacement of Tyne and Wear metro’s legacy analogue communication system.

The new digital solution, part of a total investment of over 600M GBP for the modernisation of the Tyne and Wear area’s metro, comprises a specifically deployed TETRA network and radio terminals for train cabs, drivers, shunters and maintenance personnel.

Ralf Oppermann, Global Sales Director from Schnoor commented: “We worked very closely with all the parties involved and were able to deliver a very strong proposal. A key contributor to the overall success of the project was undoubtedly the dedicated cab radio retrofit solution based on the Sepura SRG3900 mobile radio. The new cab radios, thanks to their simple and familiar lay-out perfectly fit the limited dashboard space and reduce training costs, which would have been otherwise incurred to familiarise the drivers with the new system”.

The new solution also comprises Sepura STP9 hand-portables with cradles for the train drivers and the shunting locomotives, these will be used for communication between the drivers, the control room and the depot controllers during the potentially safety-critical shunting operations.

Mr Oppermann concluded: “The reasons that influenced our decision to use Sepura radio products for the NEXUS solution were manifold; in particular we were impressed with the compact design of the mobile radio and its ability to operate at extreme temperatures, enabling us to deliver a system that meets the EN 50155 railroad standard. In addition, the Sepura STP9 hand-portable radio was the ideal choice for shunting operations thanks to its impressive levels of ruggedness and robustness”.

Tyne and Wear Metro now benefits from continuous communications across its network comprising Nexus and Network Rail tracks: the train radios can seamlessly communicate with either the Nexus or the Network Rail control rooms depending on the tracks they use at any point in time.

Dawn Griffiths, Business Development Manager for Sepura said: “This success augments our already excellent collaboration track record with Schnoor and Kapsch and is also the perfect outcome of strong partnerships committed to understanding customers’ requirements and the delivery of solutions that customers need. We look forward to many more joint successes within the transport sector in UK and abroad”.