Over 280 railway industry experts gathered at the historic York Racecourse to share innovative solutions tailored to the UK’s Eastern Region. Unlocking Innovation: Eastern event marked the beginning of a series aimed at fostering direct collaboration and sparking new ideas across the UK rail industry.
The Railway Industry Association’s (RIA) Unlocking Innovation programme aims to help companies to promote the many innovations and developments within the UK rail industry, connecting businesses to open up new opportunities to innovate. The programme is supported by three strategic partners – Network Rail, UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN), and Telent Technology Services.
“We recognise that regions have their own unique challenges,” RIA’s Innovation Director Milda Manomaityte said. “For this series of events, the idea is to hear about the unique challenges that each of Network Rail’s regions and route businesses, as well as other key clients in the area, face and to see whether the local suppliers and suppliers across the UK have the solutions to those challenges.”
Among the speakers at the event in York was Lila Tachtsi, Director of Engineering and Asset Management for Network Rail’s Eastern Region. She said: “There is a lot happening around, but of course a lot of uncertainty as well. There is uncertainty about the government, there is change about climate, there is change in the financial environment – there is a lot less money and a lot more control around finances.
“But the most exciting change, in my view, is the change in technology. A lot around understanding the asset, a lot around data, a lot around cross-asset optimisation, about bringing different disciplines together to make decisions.”
For 2024, the programme will consist of a series of five events – ‘Unlocking Innovation: Connecting Regions, Igniting Opportunities’. An event will be held in each Network Rail region, examining that region’s key challenges and encouraging industry to come up with innovative new ideas and products that will answer them. RIA’s Innovation Conference, which took place on 26-27 march in Newport, acted as the Wales & Western event and the first stand-alone Unlocking Innovation event, took place in York.
Following the success of Unlocking Innovation in the Eastern region, the next event will be in London on 12 June, where Network Rail Southern will challenge the supply chain to help solve. Click here to register for the next event.
