UK: Innovate UK has opened the latest calls for grant funding proposals under the First of a Kind programme, which supports the demonstration of innovative technologies to give them a better chance at being deployed by railway companies.
Organisations have until May 28 to submit proposals, with a total of £5m of Department for Transport funding available.
For the first time since starting the programme, Innovate UK consulted closely with the industry to identify the top challenges. The selected themes are:
- 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 so that passengers who need assistance can board unaided;
- AI and data collection, for example detecting infrastructure faults, improving incident responses and preventing road vehicles hitting bridges;
- greener railways, using AI to drive sustainability and reduce waste and emissions.
The First of a Kind programme has so far provided £58m of funding to 179 projects over eight years.
‘The competition highlights the importance of collaboration with industry partners to deliver high-maturity demonstration to ensure seamless integration into the existing railway infrastructure’, said Mike Biddle, Executive Director for Net Zero at Innovate UK, on April 7.
