National Express drives £10 million IP VPN project forward

National Express Group is investing £10 million in a five-year project to migrate 200 sites from asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology to a new, managed IP virtual private network (VPN).

The transformation will also enable the company, which serves more than one billion passengers annually through its bus, train, light rail and express coach operations, to link its UK operations with those in Canada, Spain and the US using videoconferencing technology.

The project, the renewal of an existing contract with Global Crossing, will be executed in phases, starting with the migration of 10 major sites, including National Express' London offices and regional headquarters.

"The move to an IP network environment is a natural progression for the group and will harmonise our infrastructure and help create a cohesive IT strategy across all divisions, while laying the foundation for an eventual transition to full convergence of voice and data," said Richard Rowson, head of IT strategy for National Express Group.

Other new IP services, such as CCTV surveillance at stations, passenger traffic information systems, IT and back-office systems, will also be introduced as part of the transformation.

In addition, Global Crossing will create a four-site IP VPN linking the head office, a data centre and two other operational sites.

National Express also plans to make use of Global Crossing's managed voice services in some of its train operating companies through the Railnet private voice network that supports some 70,000 subscribers.

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