Irish Rail (Iarnrod Eireann — IE) has issued a tender for the supply of a new National Train Control Centre (NTCC), which will replace the existing Centralised Traffic Control Centre (CTCC), which dates from the 1970s.
IE says the NTCC is necessary due to capacity restraints with the existing facility, which oversees 75% of the network and ageing IT systems.
The new centre, which will integrate signalling and communications control across the entire 2,400km IE network, will optimise rail traffic management and origin-to-destination performance, provide accurate real-time travel information and improve train performance.
IE says it expects to award the contract in April 2017.
The European Union will provide co-funding for the programme under the TEN-T initiative.