The
four


nationalised
train
operators
in
England
have
joined
forces
to
encourage
innovations
which
could
contribute
to
tomorrow’s
railway.

LNER,
Northern,
Southeastern
and
TransPennine
Express,
all
of
which
are
ultimately
owned
by
the
government
through
the
Department
for
Transport,
are
seeking
the
latest
technology
which
could
be
sent
to
‘Future
Labs’,
a
scheme
intended
to
boost
the
development
of
ideas
about
solving
present
and
future
problems.

Successful
applicants
will
be
allowed
to
see
confidential
industry
data,
and
they
will
also
be
able
to
consult
with
the
operators
and
their
specialist
staff.

The
inventors
will
be
able
to
apply,
test
and
demonstrate
their
ideas
on
the
existing
railway
over
12
weeks.
Applications
can
be
made
at
at
the

Future
Labs
website,
and
must
be
submitted
by
16
June. 

Speaking
jointly,
the
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.’ 

One
previous
success
is
the
Artificial
Intelligence
system
Amygda,
launched
in
2022,
which
helps
fleet
engineers
to
deal
with
problems
on
rolling
stock
as
they
arise.

Chief
executive
and
founder
Faizan
Patankar
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.’