Network Rail names winner of first traffic management contract

[whole diary]

[stuving]

This is the full news release from Network Rail:
It includes:

Britain^s rail revolution quickens pace as first contracts for new ^traffic management^ technology are awarded

Thursday 29 May 2014

Network Rail^s plans for a more affordable, higher performance railway have taken a step forward with the award of contracts for the first phase of a new nationwide traffic management system for Britain^s railways.

Traffic management technology sits at the heart of Network Rail^s operating strategy, which will consolidate control of Britain^s rail network from more than 800 signal boxes into 12 state-of-the-art rail operating centres over the next 15-30 years. Once fully implemented, this strategy will cut the cost of Britain^s railways by ^250m each year, improve industry efficiency, reduce delays and provide more accurate and timely information to staff and passengers.

Today, contracts worth a combined ^28.8m have been awarded to Thales UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to deploy traffic management technology at Network Rail^s Cardiff and Romford operating centres by December 2015. Thales is one of three global suppliers who have been working with Network Rail since 2012 to develop and test a traffic management software prototype, using real-time information to mock up how the new system would control the railway in future.

...

The value of the contracts for traffic management first deployment are worth a combined ^28.8m to deploy traffic management technology at Network Rail^s Cardiff and Romford ROCs^▸ (Rail Operating Centre - a centralised location for railway signalling and train control operations for a specific route or region)

The contract for traffic management LINX development, delivery and support has been awarded to Signalling Solutions Ltd at value of ^3.4m with completion scheduled for December 2015.

The award of contracts for the national rollout of traffic management will be subject to future competitions and will involve all current traffic management framework holders:

Thales UK
Signalling Solutions Ltd (a joint venture between Alstom Transport and Balfour Beatty Rail)
Hitachi Rail Europe

There is also a picture of a large-screen display from the mock-up of Leeds station - but are they any different to the ROCs' existing displays?

See also this from globalrailnews.
Nothing yet from Thales.

(P.S. This may fit better elsewhere on the forum, though I can't see where.)