The Department for Transport (DfT) and Innovate UK has announced £5 million funding for First of a Kind projects to improve passenger experience on the railways.
The grant funding will enable winning projects to be tested on the railway to encourage train operators, freight companies and Network Rail to adopt them. Innovate UK consulted closely with industry to identify the top challenges it faces and will focus grant funding on projects focused on the following priority ares:
- Passenger experience, particularly improving safety through reporting tools that could help reduce violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour
- Accessibility, including level boarding
- AI and data collection, for example prevention and recovery of rail bridge crash incidents
- Greener railways, using AI to drive sustainability and reduce waste
Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said:
“This competition addresses the biggest challenges facing the rail industry, taking cutting-edge technology and bringing it onto the railways by turning ideas into reality.
“This funding builds a platform for boosting innovation on the railway, giving new technologies a chance to succeed, supporting economic growth as part of the Plan for Change.
“We are creating a railway that works better for the people who use it and making lasting progress for passengers and freight by improving accessibility, safety, and reliability to prevent disruption before it happens.”
This £5 million of Government funding will help to address one of the key challenges organisations with new innovative ideas face, which is securing funding and being able to demonstrate that their projects work. The First of a Kind competition, over the eight years it has been running, has provided £58m of funding to 179 successful projects.
Mike Biddle, Executive Director for Net Zero at Innovate UK, said
“The innovations sought through this competition will help create a more accessible, safer, and efficient railway system throughout the UK.
“The competition highlights the importance of collaboration with industry partners to deliver high-maturity demonstration to ensure seamless integration into the existing railway infrastructure.
“Delivered by Innovate UK on behalf of the Department for Transport, the competition aims to identify and support outstanding, innovative solutions. In previous rounds, companies from across the UK have demonstrated the creativity and impact of their ideas through live demonstrations.”
The competition opened 7th April and organisations will have until 28 May to submit their projects. Innovate UK will be hosting an online briefing event for potential participants on 8th April to explain how the competition works and how to apply.
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