Station Innovation Zone – Year Three

Connected Places Catapult, in collaboration with Network Rail and funded by Innovate UK, is excited to announce the third year of the Station Innovation Zone Competition, supporting SMEs to test new ways of improving various aspects of the passenger experience.

The open call period for the Station Innovation Zone Competition will be Thursday 18 July 2024 – Tuesday 24 September 2024. The programme itself will take a two-phase approach, with Phase One officially starting in November 2024.

In Phase One, up to 8 SMEs will each receive £4,000 to develop a proposed trial plan during the first two months of work. Upon completion of a trial plan, up to three SMEs will be chosen to proceed to Phase Two.

In Phase Two, the chosen SMEs will move forward to live trials over a six-month period at Bristol Temple Meads, with each SME receiving up to £45,000 to support deployment at the station.

All successful applicants will also receive business development and technical trial support and the opportunity to showcase their technology at relevant industry events.

The Station Innovation Zone competition aims to reduce barriers to innovation and serves as a showcase for rail technology innovators, buyers and investors. The aim is to craft a station of the future that embodies local identity, fosters inclusivity, and ensures seamless transit for all.

Who can apply?

In order to apply:

• You must be a UK-registered business, preferably based in the West of England.
• Your innovation solution must be at least TRL (Technology Readiness Level) 5 or higher.
• Your solution must address one of the identified challenge areas
• You must be willing to travel for face-to-face meetings in Bristol.
• You must be willing to provide some match-funding, either in-kind (e.g. labour, materials etc.) or through your own funding. There is not a minimum or maximum match-funding amount.

Challenges available

This year’s challenges give applicants the opportunity to categorise your solution as one of two specific types of innovation.

Front-of-House Innovation – consists of solutions that directly improve the station user experience, these are innovations people will experience (see, hear, feel, interact with) in the station environment.

Back-of-House Innovation – consists of solutions that make rail better, simpler, and greener, these innovations improve the effectiveness of rail by better understanding issues and improving operations.

1: The Accessibility Challenge

• Front-of-House: Solutions to improve navigation, assistance confidence, and inclusive design.
• Back-of-House: Solutions to maximize the impact of accessibility improvements and better engage with users.

2: The Personal Security Challenge

• Front-of-House: Innovations to enhance lighting, maintenance, bystander intervention, and surveillance.
• Back-of-House: Solutions to facilitate easier reporting of safety concerns and better understand safety issues.

3: The Green Challenge

• Front-of-House: Creating green, calm spaces, supporting active travel, and showcasing local green businesses.
• Back-of-House: Using data-driven solutions to track and improve resource usage and sustainability.

4: The Open Challenge

• We are looking for innovations truly novel to the rail environment but which can help contribute to a safe, seamless, social and sustainable station of the future, by aligning with Network Rail priorities.For further information, please refer to the Application Guidance Document at the link below.

Application Support Webinar

On Thursday 1 August, Connected Places Catapult will hold an Application Support Webinar to give applicants to the Station Innovation Zone Competition the opportunity to find out more about the programme offering, challenges, application process, scoring criteria, and the assessment process. Click here to register for a place on the webinar (Thursday 1 August 2024, 1-2pm).

Connected Places Catapult will also be hosting two drop-in sessions with Network Rail for applicants to ask questions about the challenges and competition.

1. 1. Drop-In Session with Network Rail & Challenge Designers: Tuesday 13 August
2. 2. Drop-in Session with Network Rail & Challenge Designers: Thursday 12 September

Details will be available at the link below.