Dear Mr Kennedy
 
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Our Reference: FOI1399)
 
Thank you for your email of 1st October 2023. We acknowledge receipt of
this email under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
 
You have requested the following information:
 
        Request
        1.       Could you please attach a copy of your current contract
document with Atos Worldline to provide your CIS system and automated
announcements at your railway stations. You can redact any commercially
sensitive details that are contained within the document as is permitted
by the act. So i                  believe it will be possible to release
this document by making these redactions.
 
        2.       Could you please provide me with the start date and the
end date of your current contract with Atos Worldline to provide your CIS
system and automated announcements at your railway stations.
 
        3.       When was the Atos Worldline automated announcement system
first installed on the Northern Ireland Railways network. I am thinking it
was sometime in the late 2000s but i am unable to narrow it down any more.
If you know roughly the month and year that it was first installed that
would be                         great.
 
        4.       Could you please provide me a list of which stations
currently have automated announcements and which stations do not. I know
all of your stations have CIS screens and most have automated
announcements but i think some of the smaller ones may still not have the
automated announcements                    announcing the trains. So could
you confirm which stations do and do not have automated announcements
announcing trains.
 
        5.       Other than Dundalk and Drogheda and Dublin Connolly could
you please tell me what other stations in the Republic Of Ireland have
been recorded and are able to be announced by your station platform
automated announcements. I ask because your automated announcements at
Newry always                         seem to ignore that once a day early
morning Irish Rail stopping service that calls at all of the smaller
intermediate stations to Dublin so i am wondering if these stations are
not able to be announced by your automated announcements. So i would just
like confirmation of the full list of stations in the               
Republic Of Ireland that have been recorded and are able to be announced
by your station platform automated announcements system.
 
Please be advised, the FOIA allows us up to 20 working days (excluding any
UK statutory holidays) to process a valid request for information. We may,
however, need to contact you if we require any clarifications on your
request. If no clarifications are required, you should expect to receive a
response on or before 30^th October 2023. 
  
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.  
  
 
Regards,
 
FOI Team - Translink
[1][email address]
 
 
[2]Website | [3]Twitter | [4]LinkedIn
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journeys and more at www.translink.co.uk

show quoted sections

Translink is a trading name used by any one or more of the companies under
the ultimate ownership of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company
(NITHC). The Group comprises NITHC as parent company which owns Citybus
Limited (which also trades as “Metro”) (NI009039) Flexibus Limited
(NI006724) Ulsterbus Limited (NI006725), Translink (NI) Limited (NI006673)
and NIR Networks Limited (NI017638) - each of which is registered in
Northern Ireland and has its registered office at 22 Great Victoria
Street, Belfast BT2 7LX; Northern Ireland Railways Company Limited
(NI006929) which is registered in Northern Ireland and has its registered
office at 22 Great Victoria Street, Belfast BT2 7LX; and NIR Operations
Limited (NI021091) which is registered in Northern Ireland and has its
registered office at Lanyon Place Station, 47 East Bridge Street, Belfast
BT1 3NR.

References

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1. mailto:[email%20address]
2. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
4. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

Dear Mr Kennedy
Freedom of Information Act 2000 - (Our Reference: FOI1399)
We refer to your Freedom of Information request below and must advise
there will be a delay to our response to your request for information.
  
We have been having some difficulty in collating the response due to
pressures within the various teams which hold the information.  Our
response will be with you by 3^rd November 2023. We can advise that your
request is at an advanced stage, so we will likely be able to respond
before this date.
 
We are grateful for your patience, and please accept our sincere apologies
for any inconvenience caused.  
 
Kind regards
       
FOI Team - Translink
[1][email address]
 
 
[2]Website | [3]Twitter | [4]LinkedIn
 
 
 
 
Request
1.       Could you please attach a copy of your current contract document
with Atos Worldline to provide your CIS system and automated announcements
at your railway stations. You can redact any commercially sensitive
details that are contained within the document as is permitted by the act.
So i believe it will be possible to release this document by making these
redactions.
2.       Could you please provide me with the start date and the end date
of your current contract with Atos Worldline to provide your CIS system
and automated announcements at your railway stations.
3.       When was the Atos Worldline automated announcement system first
installed on the Northern Ireland Railways network. I am thinking it was
sometime in the late 2000s but i am unable to narrow it down any more. If
you know roughly the month and year that it was first installed that would
be great.
4.       Could you please provide me a list of which stations currently
have automated announcements and which stations do not. I know all of your
stations have CIS screens and most have automated announcements but i
think some of the smaller ones may still not have the automated
announcements announcing the trains. So could you confirm which stations
do and do not have automated announcements announcing trains.
5.       Other than Dundalk and Drogheda and Dublin Connolly could you
please tell me what other stations in the Republic Of Ireland have been
recorded and are able to be announced by your station platform automated
announcements. I ask because your automated announcements at Newry always
seem to ignore that once a day early morning Irish Rail stopping service
that calls at all of the smaller intermediate stations to Dublin so i am
wondering if these stations are not able to be announced by your automated
announcements. So i would just like confirmation of the full list of
stations in the Republic Of Ireland that have been recorded and are able
to be announced by your station platform automated announcements system.
 
 

Journeys and more at www.translink.co.uk

show quoted sections

Translink is a trading name used by any one or more of the companies under
the ultimate ownership of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company
(NITHC). The Group comprises NITHC as parent company which owns Citybus
Limited (which also trades as “Metro”) (NI009039) Flexibus Limited
(NI006724) Ulsterbus Limited (NI006725), Translink (NI) Limited (NI006673)
and NIR Networks Limited (NI017638) - each of which is registered in
Northern Ireland and has its registered office at 22 Great Victoria
Street, Belfast BT2 7LX; Northern Ireland Railways Company Limited
(NI006929) which is registered in Northern Ireland and has its registered
office at 22 Great Victoria Street, Belfast BT2 7LX; and NIR Operations
Limited (NI021091) which is registered in Northern Ireland and has its
registered office at Lanyon Place Station, 47 East Bridge Street, Belfast
BT1 3NR.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email%20address]
2. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
4. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

Dear Mr Kennedy

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request of 1^st October 2023.
You have requested:

REQUEST

“1. Could you please attach a copy of your current contract document with
Atos Worldline to provide your CIS system and automated announcements at
your railway stations. You can redact any commercially sensitive details
that are contained within the document as is permitted by the act. So i
believe it will be possible to release this document by making these
redactions.

2. Could you please provide me with the start date and the end date of
your current contract with Atos Worldline to provide your CIS system and
automated announcements at your railway stations.

3. When was the Atos Worldline automated announcement system first
installed on the Northern Ireland Railways network. I am thinking it was
sometime in the late 2000s but i am unable to narrow it down any more. If
you know roughly the month and year that it was first installed that would
be great.

4. Could you please provide me a list of which stations currently have
automated announcements and which stations do not. I know all of your
stations have CIS screens and most have automated announcements but i
think some of the smaller ones may still not have the automated
announcements announcing the trains. So could you confirm which stations
do and do not have automated announcements announcing trains.

5. Other than Dundalk and Drogheda and Dublin Connolly could you please
tell me what other stations in the Republic Of Ireland have been recorded
and are able to be announced by your station platform automated
announcements. I ask because your automated announcements at Newry always
seem to ignore that once a day early morning Irish Rail stopping service
that calls at all of the smaller intermediate stations to Dublin so i am
wondering if these stations are not able to be announced by your automated
announcements. So i would just like confirmation of the full list of
stations in the Republic Of Ireland that have been recorded and are able
to be announced by your station platform automated announcements system.

All of my questions are solely in regards to the Atos Worldline system
used at Northern Ireland Railways stations and i am not asking about the
onboard announcements.”

Response

                             As required by section 1(1)(a) Freedom of
Information Act, ‘the FOIA’, information is considered as ‘held’ by the
organisation at this time.  Please see below:

1.                   We consider this information exempt from release
under section 43(2) of the Act, relating to ‘information where disclosure
would be likely to prejudice

commercial interests’ for the reasons set out below.

As required by section 43(2), we have balanced the public interest in
withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure.

The contract in question is a very specific and bespoke document based on
a supplier template. The contents are such that release would prejudice
intellectual property of the supplier procured for this service, and it
would not be possible to redact it and leave any meaningful information
for release.

While Translink would wish to be as transparent as possible, the
relationship with this supplier is a vital and strategic one. In our view,
that relationship could be prejudiced by release and/or a lack of candour
or an unwillingness to negotiate would be generated amongst other
suppliers, fearful that by entering into an arrangement with Translink,
they would be placing their services at risk of publication and therefore,
at risk of being undermined. As a consequence, the long-term effect would
be a reduction in Translink’s ability to negotiate and to achieve best
value in its use of public funds when attempting to engage companies in
those fields. This result would, ironically, run contrary to any aim of
encouraging openness and value for money in the public interest. Translink
wishes to protect its commercial interests and ability to participate in
future commercial activity and the disclosure of this information would be
to the detriment of present and future business activities for both
parties.  It is asserted, therefore, that the balance of the public
interest in maintaining the exemption, outweighs the public interest in
disclosure.

2.           Contract start date: 1 December 2022, contract end date: 30
November 2027.

3.           Circa 2007. We no longer hold a record of the original
contract to confirm an exact date.

4.           Please see attached [1]​pdf icon FOI1399 Station List.pdf

5.           Only Dundalk, Drogheda and Dublin Connolly have been
recorded.

Review Procedure

If you are not satisfied with this response, you may request a review by
writing to the Translink General Counsel and Company Secretary, who has
overall responsibility for Freedom of Information and Data Protection
issues within this organisation. Correspondence should be addressed to the
above-mentioned at: Translink, 22 Great Victoria Street, Belfast BT2 7LX
or by email to [2][NITHCo / Translink request email].

If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right
of appeal to the Information Commissioner who will make an independent
judgement. The address of the Information Commissioner is: Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. The address of the Information
Commissioner’s Office for Northern Ireland is: 3rd floor, 14 Cromac Place,
Gasworks, Belfast, BT7 2JB.

Yours sincerely,

 FOI Team - Translink

[3][email address]

[4]Website | [5]Twitter | [6]LinkedIn

Journeys and more at www.translink.co.uk

show quoted sections

Translink is a trading name used by any one or more of the companies under
the ultimate ownership of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company
(NITHC). The Group comprises NITHC as parent company which owns Citybus
Limited (which also trades as “Metro”) (NI009039) Flexibus Limited
(NI006724) Ulsterbus Limited (NI006725), Translink (NI) Limited (NI006673)
and NIR Networks Limited (NI017638) - each of which is registered in
Northern Ireland and has its registered office at 22 Great Victoria
Street, Belfast BT2 7LX; Northern Ireland Railways Company Limited
(NI006929) which is registered in Northern Ireland and has its registered
office at 22 Great Victoria Street, Belfast BT2 7LX; and NIR Operations
Limited (NI021091) which is registered in Northern Ireland and has its
registered office at Lanyon Place Station, 47 East Bridge Street, Belfast
BT1 3NR.

References

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https://www.linkedin.com/company/transli...

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To access Translink's apps and resources, please use the code below for
account verification. The code will only work for 30 minutes.
Account verification code:
19913442
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[1]Privacy Statement
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Reminder: Confirm your need for
access.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Translink

[1]Informational Azure Active Directory is now Microsoft Entra ID.
[2]Learn More.

Please review Translink Guest Users Access Review in Translink:

Please review by 02 February 2024 to confirm your continued need for
access.

[3]Learn more about reviewing your access.

[4]Review access >

Want to try our new experience (preview)? [5]Click Here

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