Fifty Years Ago .... from the pages of Computer Weekly

16th May 1974 computing, compiled by TNMOC volunteer archivist, Brian Aldous.

A selection of stories from Computer Weekly from 16th May 1974. The full archive of Computer Weekly can be seen at TNMOC, where there are special rolling displays of front pages from 25 and 40 years ago.

GEC equipment for Underground project: A £700,000 project, financed by the government and the Greater London Council, to improve services on the Northern and Victoria lines of London’s Underground railway system has been announced by London Transport. As the first stage in the project, a £300,000 order has been placed with GEC-General Signal Ltd for a dual 192K byte GEC 4080 installation, together with two 4.8 Megabyte cartridge disc units and associated equipment from the GEC March 4 series, for railway control purposes. Scheduled to be installed during 1975 at the Euston control centre for the two Underground lines, the control system will be developed over a five-year period. When fully operational, the system is expected to provide a regular service, particularly on the Northern line, by making the best possible use of available staff and rolling stock. One of the 4080s will be programmed with data including train timetables and crew duty schedules, and will also take on the logging of the movements of up to 140 trains. VDU terminals will be installed at the Euston control centre to access the 4080 for information on train and crew positions at any time. In addition, depots and crew relief points will be fitted with on-line teleprinters. (CW 393 16/5/1974 p3)