Petards wins £4.3 million contract with Swiss rail manufacturer

Team Valley’s Petards specialises in advanced security and surveillance systems, and has secured a £4.3m agreement with a Swiss train manufacturer that is building trains for new UK services.

AIM-listed Petards’ systems are used for defence, rail and emergency services, and the firm has recently started to target the new-build train sector, in tandem with the introduction of new franchises and new train fleets.

The growth strategy has continued to bear fruit, with business secured with manufacturers such as Bombardier Transportation and Hitachi Rail Europe.

This new deal will Petards supply two of its systems – eyeTrain CCTV and Automatic Selective Door Opening (ASDO) systems – to Stadler Bussnang AG.

The new contract is for the design, development and supply of CCTV and ASDO systems integrated into Stadler’s FLIRTUK trains, the firm’s first mainline rolling stock in the UK which will be used on the Intercity and Airport (Stansted Express) services and on the new East Anglia franchise, run by Abellio, which runs until 2025.

Engineering activities will start immediately with the first equipment will be delivered from June 2017. The project is due to be completed during the second quarter of 2019.

EyeTrain technology has already been installed on thousands of trains around the globe. It gives trains, especially the driver, access to CCTV coverage of both the internal and external of saloon areas and forward facing and track debris monitoring systems, all of which is integrated into Petards’ video management software.

Meanwhile, the ASDO system gives improved passenger operations at stations where the platforms are shorter than the trains – without ASDO, carriages with one or more doors not facing the platform normally remain shut, forcing passengers to board or leave the trains through other carriages.

Petards chairman Raschid Abdullah said: “We are delighted that Petards eyeTrain CCTV and ASDO systems have been selected by Stadler for their first UK Mainline Rolling stock contract.

“This new contract provides Petards with another exciting rail project with a new customer, which significantly enhances its position as a leading provider of security and surveillance systems to the UK Rail industry and considerably adding to the Group’s present order book for delivery over the next three years.

“We welcome Stadler as a new customer of Petards with the integration onto their FLIRT platform. We are all thrilled about the potential of this new partnership with Stadler, a long established world leading train builder.”

Headquartered in Bussnang, Switzerland, Stadler operates in 18 countries. In the UK, Stadler’s Variobahn trams operate on the London Tramline and it Class 68 diesel locomotive is the most powerful to run in the UK, and the Class 88 dual mode locomotives are used on freight and passenger services.

It has recently been awarded a contract to build electric and bi-mode multiple units for the new East Anglia franchise, part of the largest ever rolling stock procurement in the history of the UK, and is providing the vehicles for the Sheffield tram-train, the first of its kind in the UK.