Metropolitan Bus Network Selects Tait DMR Tier 3

The travelling public of Greater Manchester UK will enjoy the benefits of modern, clear and reliable digital communication when a large part of their bus network moves over to a Tait DMR Tier 3 radio system, developed with a focus on safety.

Starting in early 2022, the transition will make the fleet of First Manchester buses one of the most well connected in the UK, providing enhanced features to manage real-time communications, bus movements and passenger safety needs, for passenger transport organizations in the UK, as Tait has done in the past. This adoption of a digital mobile radio network stands to impact the reliability and accuracy of bus services in the Greater Manchester area, that serves a population of 2.85 million citizens.

A infographic view of the size of the Greater Manchester Area, UK.

What is Manchester and how big is it? Courtesy of Urbinfomanc.

Tait DMR is a digital communications platform that delivers commercial and worker safety benefits for mission critical users. The move to a Tait DMR tier 3 digital radio system will include First Manchester’s entire operational fleet, including the Vantage buses operating along the traffic-free guided busway route from the city centre to Atherton and Leigh and areas around Manchester city centre, Salford, Oldham and Rochdale.

The new system being designed and installed by industry leader TES Communication Solutions brings enhanced voice and data capability and connectivity via independent infrastructure ensuring continuous communications even in the event of outages or high traffic on cellular networks.

By choosing the adopt a Tait DMR Tier 3 system, the Greater Manchester metropolitan area will benefit from:

  • Flexibility, control and freedom of choice – Our support for open standards means that our multimode radios, systems and software options extends the operators freedom to choose from a range of location, dispatch and recording solutions among others to suit specific needs.
  • Easy, future-proof evolution options – Tait DMR is the most flexible DMR platform, with a wide range of options to meet requirements today, alongside easy future additions of features as the needs of the operator change overtime. Our flexible network makes it easy to migrate through various sizes of DMR Tier 2 & Tier 3 systems, making it the ideal solution for organizations of all sizes.
  • Industry leading network performance – Our base stations are engineered for optimum performance, surpassing minimum requirements set by regulation. Tait’s systems can run on fewer sites with no reduction in reliability, saving on cost without compromising your network.
  • Decades of trunked radio experience – Tait DMR excels thanks to our decades of experience in designing and deploying MPT systems around the world which our engineers have transferred to DMR resulting in a better, stronger DMR offering.

Tim Jenkins, Engineering Support Manager of First Manchester, said:

“One of the major benefits of this upgrade, as the operator, will be to manage our services more efficiently, handle any incidents faster thereby improving the service to our customers in Greater Manchester”.

A bus in Greater Manchester pulling around and inner-city corner.

The agreement between TES Communication Solutions and First Manchester is for a comprehensive managed service including the provision of airtime on the new city-wide digital system and 24/7 support for vehicle hardware, multiple control desks, and Ofcom license compliance.

Steve Smith, managing director of TES, said:

“Ultimately, this technology helps the bus users to travel more efficiently and safely around the region with a future-proof system that can be enhanced as we progress through the development of the system. We will be working very closely with the team at First Manchester to make sure this is as smooth a transition as possible as we deploy this proven market leading technology.”

TES Communication Solutions’ systems have been installed in transport and infrastructure systems around the world where there is a need for mission critical communications including in Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Manchester Metrolink, Midland Metro, and Blackpool Transport in the UK, as well as deployments for organisations such as the MOD, UBS Bank and Astra Zeneca.

Article Courtesy of TESradio.com.


Tait Communications LogoImprove your communications with the powerful combination of flexibility, control and resiliency with Tait DMR Tier 3.

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