Network Rail ditches NT4 after two years

Network Rail is embarking on an extensive Windows XP upgrade project, just two years after its predecessor Railtrack installed NT4.

The rail operator is moving away from NT4, which runs on its 10,000 desktops and 300 servers, and from Windows 2000, installed on 2,900 laptops.

Network Rail wants to install XP before Microsoft withdraws extended support for NT4 in December 2004, and to ensure that systems across the organisation are standardised.

"The corporate IT strategy is to ensure that all operating systems across the operating platform are the same," a Network Rail spokesman told vnunet.com's sister title Computing.

The rail operator also wants to make sure that its IT systems are up-to-date to allow it to make the most of technology.

Network Rail explained that, although NT4 provided some benefits, "the operating system has a limited life, and further benefits, such as Active Directory, are available from the next generations of Microsoft operating system software".

Railtrack was often slow to adopt new technology and only installed NT4 in June 2001, five years after its launch. But the company did negotiate a free upgrade to XP, of which Network Rail is now taking advantage.

Network Rail is deciding whether to call in external specialists to undertake the upgrade, or to use internal resources. "We have quite a strong in-house design team," said the spokesman.

The company will not be buying new hardware to run XP, and will use its existing Compaq systems.

"We see XP being our operating platform for the foreseeable future," concluded the spokesman.