In February 2001 the British Stagecoach Group decided to modernize passenger rolling stock of South West Trains and replace all ‘slam door’ trains by 2004. The order was placed at the Siemens Transportation Systems, a wholy owned subsidiary of Siemens plc. According to the 1,0 Billion contract Siemens Transportation Systems will supply up to 1200 new cars comprising 20 metre and 23 metre Desiro UK units for use on both suburban and mainline services.

Desiro UK is part of the European DESIRO family of multiple units designed to meet the increasing world demand for passenger rolling stock. Designed specifically with UK requirements in mind, Desiro UK will meet demands imposed by the UK railway infrastructure, whilst retaining the flexibility, through modular design, to tailor the trains to accommodate individual operator requirements.

Nautsilus Ltd is one of subcontractor involved in the work on the Desiro UK Passenger Information System (PIS) development in collaboration with S.A.Viewcom and SP Teknik from Denmark.

A Public Address system ensures that passengers feel well informed and secure at all times during travelling. Furthermore the PA system is a tool for high-service performance of the train personnel.

PIS from SA•ViewCom generally includes

• Destination indicators on the front and the side of carriages
• "Next stop" and calling pattern indicators in passenger cabins
• Automated digitalised announcements of "next stop" and other messages

Other features

• Automatic control of systems via GPS, transponder systems or tacho, speed and door signals
• Exchange of information with train computer
• Exchange of data with other data systems via GSM
• Seat reservation systems available
• Control of on-board video information system

Passenger information system for DESIRO Trains
The Passenger Information system (PIS) incorporates

• 2 x external end mounted destination indicators
• A sufficient number of external displays adjacent to the doors as an option
• 2 x internal displays per car
• A sufficient number of cameras to supervise the passenger compartments, is an option

Further equipment such as external cameras and information/advertising screens in the passenger compartments can be installed as options as according to customer requirements.

The new PIS of Desiro UK units will be based on the LonWorks networking technology according to the new IEEE1473-1999 standard for the transport control networks. Configuration tools is building on the ISaGRAF for Linux.

The first new trains will begin entering passenger service in 2002 after extensive testing in Wildenrath, near Düsseldorf (Germany).