UK: The latest round of the Future Labs innovation programme is seeking proposals to address four challenges faced by train operators.
The challenges are:
- Energy resilience: new ways to generate, store and manage clean energy directly on-site, such as battery systems, solar power or novel technologies which could help stations become self-sufficient, resilient and low carbon, even in the face of disruption;
- Waste: ideas to automate and scale waste sorting within station recycling hubs, improving throughput, accuracy and efficiency in a space-constrained environment;
- Trespass: technology or design-based approaches to detect and deter trespass from platform ends, especially at unstaffed stations, without costly barriers or staff intervention, while maintaining safety and privacy standards;
- Accessibility: making platform-to-train ramps lighter, faster and more adaptable, ensuring the right equipment is always in the right place to assist passengers quickly and safely.
Future Labs is supported by publicly owned operators LNER, TransPennine Express, Northern Trains, Southeastern, South Western Railway, c2c and Greater Anglia.
‘We’re opening the doors to professionals, tinkerers, students and dreamers alike, to share their ideas’, said Richard Harrison, Chief Financial Officer at state holding company DfT Operator Ltd, on March 5. ‘The UK has some of the brightest creative and technical minds in the world, and Future Labs gives them the chance to bring that talent to one of the nation’s most vital and historic industries’.
