German embedded computing company Kontron has won contracts exceeding €100m to deploy mission-critical communication systems on railways in Ireland, Austria and Slovenia.

The firm says these contracts underlines its capability along the technology evolution from GSM-R to FRMCS future railway mobile communication systems.

In Ireland and Austria, the contracts will ensure the continued evolution of the proven and standard GSM-R on the Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) and the ÖBB networks, respectively, and the ongoing operations along established railways standards until the evolution of the mobile communication system to FRMCS is available, approved for use on the networks and fully deployed.

Programmes such as the DARTt+ (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) in Ireland or the one now deployed in ÖBB couldn’t happen without the continued availability and reliability of the GSM-R network.

In Slovenia, the Divača (Koper railway) connects the cargo port of Koper with the Slovenian and wider European railway network. Kontron will design, test, commission and install the GSM-R for efficient and secure communication for railway traffic management.

Designed to integrate with the existing GSM-R network used across the Slovenian railways, the system will provide coverage of the open track and tunnels of both the main line and supply lines found across the route.

“We are very pleased about the very good collaboration and long-term partnership with our customers,” said Richard Neussl, COO of Kontron Transportation. “As a driving force in the definition of future communication standards, we offer our customers the possibility of a smooth migration and coexistence between GSM-R and a next-generation mobile communication system. For this, we have developed a programme that guarantees the availability of GSM-R maintenance and support for as long as customers need it.”

With these contracts, Iarnród Éireann and Kontron have entered a relationship to guarantee the continued availability and operability of the digital train communication system.

“The GSM-R provided by Kontron and its technology partners meets our current and future requirements,” said Thomas Quigley, national telecoms manager at Iarnród Éireann. “Their methodology of maintaining the legacy system was the most practical option available and suits our capital investment model best. Projects such as the DARTt+ programme, designed to extend DART services in the greater Dublin area, or the National Train Control Centre simply couldn’t happen without the continued availability and reliability of the Kontron GSM-R network.”

Kontron (www.kontron.com) is an IoT technology company. For more than 20 years, it has been supporting companies from a wide range of industries with intelligent technology. From automated industrial operations, smarter and safer transport to advanced communications, medical and energy, the company delivers technologies that add value. Kontron has around 4700 employees with subsidiaries in more than 20 countries.