By Emmanuel Oluebube, Senior Correspondent, UK

Global professional services company with over 10,000 people in 50 countries, Turner & Townsend has been appointed to Network Rail’s telecoms professional services framework as it continues to transform its legacy systems and capabilities into a simpler, more resilient and affordable set of technologies for providing reliable digital connectivity across Britain’s transport network.

The award will see the firm provide project, programme and portfolio management services, as well as strategic business change support. The framework will run for two years, with the possibility of a two-year extension.

The framework has been designed to provide a streamlined process to acquire the necessary skills and capabilities to support telecoms infrastructure plans. Working together with wider technical partners, Turner & Townsend will help implement business analysis and processes to improve the performance of Network Rail’s telecoms services 

UK Infrastructure Managing Director, James Corrigan commented:   “The UK Telecomms market has been evolving rapidly over the last decade and the government has made a clear commitment to providing fast reliable connectivity to all reaches of the UK by 2027.

This strategic appointment offers us the platform to drive this change through a collaborative approach with Network Rail.

“Having worked with Network Rail for the last twenty years, we are delighted to be able to further build on our special relationship. We will also continue to invest in the local community creating the opportunity for homegrown talent, while drawing on our global programme management learning for the benefit of Network Rail’s telecoms services and its stakeholders.”