ELECTRONICS specialist Joyce-Loebl has won a third major order in Portugal for its rail security system.

The £2.84m export order is for the fitting of the company's closed-circuit TV security system to 347 refurbished rail cars, on two suburban lines in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

Graham Walker, international project manager, said the Gateshead company's track record in Portugal - on both the state railway system and the Lisbon metro - had given it an advantage over competitors.

"Portuguese Railways rate us on technical ability, price and delivery, and technical solutions," he said.

Joyce-Loebl engineers will start work in Lisbon on the commissioning of the system and crew training during the next 18 months.

Each rail car, which will operate in trains of three and four vehicles, is being fitted with two-way video recorders, two video cameras and drivers' monitors for the front and rear cars.

Images recorded using the system could be used in criminal trials.

The company, which is based at Tyneside's Team Valley, faced tough competition from 11 other European firms to secure the order, which will also bring with it an additional ten to 12-year maintenance contract.

Joyce-Loebl has also won a £300,000 contract closer to home, for the installation of an on-board public address audio system for refurbished trains on the East Coast Main Line.

The order includes a crew and passenger emergency call-for-aid system and a crew-to-driver communications system.

Mike Wade, director of Joyce-Loebl Transport Systems Group, said: "Getting clarity of speech across trains that are 15 years old is very tricky as you have to use a lot of wiring and overcome background noise."