UK: The Rail Safety & Standards Board includes a focus on digital transformation to help the industry embrace new technologies in its Annual Business Plan for 2025-26.
Key initiatives in the plan published on April 2 are:
- driving down costs by improving data sharing and insights on safety incidents and workforce health, improving signal assessments, updated guidance on National Technical Specification Notices and new cost-benefit tools for safety investment decisions;
- enhancing passenger safety and satisfaction by focusing on trespass, station risks, train over-speeding, standardising signage, risk frameworks, new standards, guidance about tackling emissions at stations and a new standard for speed restriction management;
- boosting system reliability and resilience by helping reduce disruptions and prevent collisions by researching new working methods, providing better tools to manage train wheel adhesion, piloting train driver alertness monitoring and improving data insights for a more reliable railway;
- accelerating the adoption of new technology such as the PRIMA rain and wind risk tool, creating frameworks and guidance for the faster adoption of AI and robotics, setting data standards to optimise the ability to share insights, encouraging greater research uptake, delivering data platforms for workforce health reporting, and sustainable infrastructure by design;
- supporting freight safety and growth by identifying opportunities for faster operations, improving network access with new gauging, enhancing driver welfare arrangements and tackling wagon wheel defects with predictive tools;
- delivering value to society and sustainability through research into dynamic battery charging, maximising the use of existing electrification and supporting the use of novel and light rail vehicles on existing infrastructure;
- adding value for RSSB members by enhancing capabilities in customer experience, digital transformation, financial sustainability, commercial income, and organisational health.
‘Digital transformation is no longer a future aspiration, it’s a present necessity for a high-performing and efficient railway,’ said RSSB Chief Executive Mark Phillips. ’Our 2025-26 Business Plan places a strong emphasis on harnessing the power of technology, both within RSSB to better serve our members, and across the industry to unlock efficiencies, improve safety and drive innovation.’
