SWEDISH drivers are to enjoy smoother journeys because of work by a North-East IT firm.

County Durham-based Nicander has completed the third of four stages of a project to control and manage road traffic in the Scandinavian nation.

The National Traffic management System (NTS), developed by the firm, with headquarters in Wynyard Park, means operators in four central bases can monitor and control traffic on all the country’s major roads. Operators sit in front of a bank of monitors and view where there are delays, congestion and accidents and then take action such as imposing a speed limit diverting traffic away.

Messages are also automatically sent to the police, who may need to attend, and radio stations, which can advise drivers on alternative routes.

Following a pilot system in the capital Stockholm, Trafikverket, the agency responsible for road and rail infrastructure in Sweden, brought in Nicander to further develop and enhance it.

The updated system was then rolled out in Harnosand in May, with the third centre opening in Gothenburg in the past few weeks. The fourth and final centre will open in Kristianstad next month.

Nicander director Nick Drew, who founded the firm with Derek Lister in 2007, said: “We are delighted to see the project in Gothenburg go live, without incident. Having successfully installed NTS in two locations, we were confident this one would go according to plan, and it did.”

The firm is looking to use the expertise to sell the NTS system, which has been recognised in Swedish IT awards, into other countries.