Four rail companies, including Northern and TransPennine Express, have joined forces on a Dragons’ Den style scheme to find tech start-ups that can help drive innovation in the industry.
LNER, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express, all run by the DfT’s Operator of Last Resort, are calling on tech start-ups that can address problems in the rail sector to apply to the Future Labs programme. The scheme will allow businesses to access industry data, resources and mentorship, and secure the opportunity to run 12-week real-world tests of solutions on the rail network.
A spokesperson on behalf of the four train operators, said:
“Future Labs is all about transforming the rail industry through open, pioneering and proven innovation.
“By giving technology startups access to live environments and expert mentorship they can test their proposed solutions in a real-world environment.
“Ultimately, this is all about advancing the passenger and employee experience as well as supporting performance and operational excellence.”
AI platform Amygda previously achieved success through the Future Labs scheme in 2022. Commenting on the value of the programme to their success, Faizan Patankar, the chief executive and founder, said:
“The rail industry provided us with invaluable access to live environments that allowed us to test and develop our product.
“The unique opportunity to generate our own insights was instrumental in building an understanding of the nuances of real-world data capture.
“Given the excellent experience it was to work with rail experts, the expanded scale of the programme with four operators is a really exciting opportunity for innovators looking to disrupt an industry.”
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