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Day One at RIA Innovation Conference

With a jam-packed agenda, the first day of the 2024 RIA Innovation Conference included keynote speeches, Tech Talks, Exhibitor Spotlights, TOC Pitch Sessions and the Future Focus Zone.

We look forward to seeing attendees again tomorrow for Day Two!

Making the positive case for rail

RIA Chief Executive Darren Caplan welcomed delegates and said how much he was looking forward to the next two days.

He stated that this year there is an opportunity to reset rail, following a difficult few years due to COVID and the recent cancellation of HS2 Phase 2.

Darren said that, “It is so important right now that we are open to innovation as this will deliver the efficiencies that industry needs and will address the challenges including weather resilience, decarbonisation, improved workforce safety, providing better services, attracting customers to use the railway, and providing value for national, regional and local government funds."

Nick Millington MBE, Route Director, Network Rail, made an appearance via a video recording, and spoke about “the exciting start of CP7” next week, whilst acknowledging the challenges facing the railway, including safety. He emphasised the importance of engagement in a collaborative way.

Stakeholders’ view

Network Rail’s Chief Technology Officer Robert Ampomah stated that the company's four key priorities going into CP7 are: boots off ballast, weather resilience, better asset knowledge and drive efficiencies through RD&I.

Robert emphasised the importance of creating a culture of innovation and that the best way forward is to invest in technologies in rail.

Scott Waddington, Chair, Transport for Wales, stated that, “Our vision at Transport for Wales is to create a high-quality, safe, integrated, affordable and accessible transport network that the people of Wales are proud of and innovation is key to our success in that and collaboration is absolutely essential in achieving that."

Scott also highlighted the importance of integration between transport modes and noted the success of the pay-as-you-go fares on key routes across South East Wales.

Rebecca Jeffery, New Mobility Lead at Uber discussed Uber's recent expansion into additional modes of transport, including bikes, boats, and trains. Their next steps for the future involve working with the rail reform agenda, and exploring innovation in ticketing.

Looking to the future

After delegates had time for some networking and to take a look at the exhibition stands, the late-morning session started with Dave Looney, Head of Product Strategy at Telent. He discussed how AI can allow for the use of real-time data to make informed decisions in rail.

Rachel McInnes, Co-Director for Joint Centre for Excellence in Environmental Intelligence, Met Office commented on the positive atmosphere at the conference and explained how environmental and artificial intelligence is improving weather forecasting and how it can help the railway industry manage climate resilience.

Arjen Zoeteman, Senior Program Manager – Research, ProRail mentioned the challenges facing the rail sector: growth of mobility, new technology, sustainability, and scarcity of resources. He highlighted the work that the ProRail DataLab has undertaken with Data Science and Sensoring, which helps spread knowledge and impove building capabilities.

Following a great networking lunch, eleven exhibitors were given 10 minutes each to make their pitch to delegates, highlighting the features of their exhibits. Those exhibitors were:

University of Birmingham
National Infrastructure Laboratory and Southampton University
Cranfield University
University of South Wales
Institute of Rail Research and University of Huddersfield
National Robotarium
University of Sheffield/AMRC
University of Bristol
Brunel University
UK Atomic Energy Authority/RAICo
Logistics Institute, the University of Hull

While those 'spotlights' were taking place, invited representatives of several companies were introducing their products and services to a panel of train operator procurement executives.

Innovative products

Then it was time for some Tech Talks, a series of short presentations by some well-known innovators:

Chris Clements, Sales & Marketing Manager ABB highlighted the progress made in the rail industry, noting back to Stephenson's rocket which went at 12mph, to the significant advancements made today such as ABB's new fitting solutions.
Scott Heath, Innovation Manager, Thales, noted the barriers towards utilising data in the digital railway, such as time, money and resistance to change. He mentioned the use of video analytics to analyse and understand data sets.
Richard Homheinz, Senior Consultant Engineer, Capgemini, said that there is a general trend of collecting data, but not using it. A more centralised and unified collection of data would help resolve this.
Evan Jones, Chief Executive Officer, Complete Cyber, discussed the role of cybersecurity within the rail industry and asset management.
Matthew Marsland, Director, Helix, promoted their digital hub which is used by engineers to manage workbanks, warehouses and depots, and is used on the TRU and Core Valley lines.

The final keynote speech was given by Charlie Fuller, Rail Investment Centre of Excellence in Network Rail and Susan McGuerty, Arcadis Business Advisory. They provided cost benchmarking analysis, which is a priority in Network Rail. The BenchSmart vision provides live real-time access to project data and is rolled out across three regions, with 400 users across 500 projects. They revealed that value for money is delivered more efficiently by linking data to investment.