Latest rail innovations unveiled at the industry’s flagship showcase

The Rail Innovation Exhibition returned for its 5th year, welcoming around 700 delegates from across the rail industry to showcase groundbreaking advancements in rail technology. With a focus on digital transformation, sustainability, and future talent, the event highlighted the sector’s commitment to investment, progress and innovation.

The event, which is delivered by Innovate UK, in partnership with the Department for Transport, provides an opportunity to see first-hand the latest advancements in rail from over 70 pioneering companies.

Delivering the keynote address at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in London, the Rail Minister, Lord Hendy opened by saying:

“This is a good year to be thinking about innovation because it’s the 200-year anniversary of the first public passenger railway in the world.

“The point of the railway is not how is works. The point of the railway is what it does, and what it does is create better connectivity, which creates growth, jobs and housing.

He continued:

“When you look at the railway over two centuries, it’s easy to see that the entire history of the railway is a history of innovation. People have predicted its demise over the past 100 years, and it’s been through some dark times and radical social change through the rise of car ownership. But it’s still here and it’s still doing well.

“There’s a huge appetite to invest in the railway and make it better. Everybody I see in parliament wants more railway, not less. They want it to work better and they want to see more investment. It’s a good culture for us to have.”

Angie Doll, Trustee of Women in Rail and Chief Executive Officer of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which operates brands like Southern and Gatwick Express, spoke of the need to attract more diverse talent into the rail industry. She said that rail was still ranked amongst the bottom 5 industries for gender representation.

“With many experienced rail professionals due to retire, now is the time to broaden our talent pool, attract younger generations, and create a welcoming, inclusive environment for all. That should be our priority.”

She said GTR had made many changes to how they recruit female applicants including more representative interview panels, new job advertisements on platforms which engage with women, and created partnerships with skills organisations. It has resulted in an increase in female driver applications with the proportion of female drivers growing from 10% in 2016 to 32% in 2024.

Maggie Smith, Director General of the Rail Freight Group spoke of the challenges and opportunities in freight, particularly with the digitisation of outdated systems like TOPS (Total Operations Processing System). She said this was one example of many embedded systems which needed to be modernised.

Luisa Moisio, Director of Research at the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), spoke about how rail industry leaders, including Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group have contributed to the Rail Technical Strategy, which sets the industry’s vision for how technology can be used to create a better railway.

Exhibition

Over 70 innovative rail companies formed the exhibition, featuring many who are winners of Innovate UK’s First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) competition, funded by the Department for Transport.
Examples included:

i3D robotics

Tonbridge-based i3D robotics, design and manufacture 3D imaging systems servicing a range industries from manufacturing and construction, to healthcare, energy, defence and transport. Last year, they were successful in completing a £200,000 FOAK project to support tunnel construction for HS2. The use of innovative, integrated, robotic systems during periods of heavy construction results in improved safety for workers, reduced costs, and increased productivity for the installation of tunnel services.

One Big Circle

One Big Circle, specialists in intelligent video, were demonstrating their innovative product, DepotMATE, funded through FOAK and partnered with Transport for London, East Midlands Railway (EMR) and Colas. DepotMATE is a multi-sensor trackside capture solution, which can be deployed in multiple locations within the depot, and uses AI to detect a range of potential issues for each rail operator. This results in increased inspection capability, improved depot and mainline operations.

Atmo Technology

Atmo Technology, a Bristol-based data company that specialise in providing insights for operational activities on industrial sites. They were successful in the 2023 FOAK competition, partnering with Network Rail and South Western Railway to implement a ‘Smart Depot’ solution. The AtmoCore data platform enables site workers to better understand environmental outputs such as air quality, noise pollution and utility consumption, via an IoT network of sensors. This enables greater visibility over potential health risks, whilst reducing operating costs.

Summing up the Rail Innovation Exhibition, James Bevan, Innovation Lead for Rail at Innovate UK said:

“Today’s been a really successful day, bringing together FOAK winners as well as innovative companies from across the rail ecosystem. The sheer volume and diversity of organisations on show highlights the industry’s ability and willingness to innovate. We’re really looking forward to seeing how these projects continue to develop to support a common goal of improving the passenger experience and rail performance.”