Digital Catapult hosted the RAIL 100 Breakfast Club in London on January 25. Speaker Adam Parkinson, Senior Practice Lead at Digital Catapult, says there’s much work yet for the rail industry to make itself ‘digitally-savvy’.
Digital Catapult’s transport industry specialist is just three months into his post but has identified that the rail industry is far behind in its adoption of digital technology compared to other modes of transport.
Digital Catapult is the UK innovation agency for advanced digital technology, developed in conjunction with Innovate UK - a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government, as part of the United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) organisation.
As host for the event, Adam’s opening words were “there have been a few green shoots since we gathered last year, notably Labour’s panel to review rail infrastructure, chaired by Jurgen Maier - former Siemens COO and Chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. He’s now Digital Catapult’s chair, so we’ll be asking him questions on the thinking behind that.”
Technology isn't optional
Commencing on the rail freight growth target announced by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) before Christmas, Adam said, "I think freight is the only true growth sector we’ve got in the market right now compared to passengers.”
On the DfT’s commitment to achieve a 75% growth rate in the sector by 2050, he described it as being “quite ambitious”, adding “we’ll need a lot of ‘tech’ to get there.”
Part of his mission in his first year at the organisation is to push his team to become more involved in rail freight – a sector which has great potential, but which has often been the silent cousin in the wider press recently, as industrial action has taken a precedence.
Support for SMEs
Part of Adam’s vision is to make the transport of goods by rail more accessible to SMEs, which doesn’t always require large quantities of goods to be transported.
He explained, “We’ll be supporting start-ups like RailX which acts as a booking platform for intermodal freight - much like those that seek to maximise the capacity of hotels. This aims to do the same for rail freight.”
Before starting at Digital catapult, Adam helped raise proof of concept funding for start-up high speed logistics operator, Varamis Rail, which uses re-purposed passenger trains from Rolling Stock Leasing Companies (ROSCOs) to move goods at high-speed.
Citing his work at the operator, Adam said, “We need new business models for a post-covid era - Varamis proved a new concept and enabled further investment.
“I think it’s an interesting time in the rail freight sector, with lots of growth to be had and sustainability benefits. These benefits really need selling to the logistics sector. With the passenger sector still at 90% capacity, there remains further room for rail freight going forwards.”
Platform for growth
Adam and his team at Digital Catapult are keen to show their support and become more involved with the rail sector in its digital transformation.
“As a sector we don’t have much digital strategy. We don’t really have a wider view on how we’re going to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G connectivity and strategic planning tools. I think the sector needs more of it.
“I always think about our Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) as the best example (the computerised system still used today to code wagon types, allocations, goods transported and maintenance schedules). Devised in the 1960s, it’s no longer retro – it’s vintage. We still have systems like this that we use to run the railway - why?”
HS2 has arguably seen the sector make better use of technology than before, with proof-of-concept operations and AI delivering benefits. Adam concluded, “it will be great to see how we can educate the sector on the benefits from greater adoption of future technologies."
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