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Telent wins contract to renew telecoms for Network Rail

Telecom

Business Honor
17 April, 2025

Telent acquires contract with Network Rail to refurbish telecoms infrastructure in Western Region and Wales.

Telent has won a large contract from Network Rail to install a telecoms renewal programme into the Wales and Western Region of the UK. The deal represents the first telcos-only framework to be handed out during Control Period 7 (CP7), Network Rail's key element of five-year planning and spending.

The renewal programme is intended to make rail services from London to Penzance more efficient, covering regions such as Bristol, the Cotswolds, and all of Wales. Under the deal, Telent will concentrate on developing key Operational Telecoms systems, making sure that communication infrastructure underpinning regional rail services is brought up to date. In addition, Telent will also renew Station Information and Security Systems (SISS) at major Network Rail-owned stations, such as Bristol Temple Meads, enhancing the passenger experience even further.

Project mobilization has already begun, with Telent closely collaborating with Network Rail to finalize plans for the renewal programme. The design phase for fixed transmission network (FTN) power renewals is already underway, with over 480 sites being upgraded throughout the region.

Richard Cundy, Network Rail's Western and Wales regional telecoms asset and performance manager, stressed that the upgrades to the telecoms infrastructure are vital to ensuring a safe, efficient, and reliable railway. Not only will these upgrades improve passenger assistance, but they will also benefit the wider regional rail operation.

The programme for renewal is to be finished by March 2029, as the conclusion of the CP7 project timeframe. Nonetheless, there lies scope for carrying the programme through to Control Period 8 (CP8) should the program succeed. Telent has experience working with sophisticated railway technology schemes and is well-positioned to deliver this significant renewal of the infrastructure with Network Rail.

More recently, Telent also won a contract to oversee and maintain GTR customer information systems throughout the UK, also extending its hold on the rail telecom market within the UK.