- £9.4 million is available for this year’s winners to make
their ideas a reality
- January will see events across the country for innovators and
inventors to help them apply
Organisations developing cutting-edge technology focused on
making rail journeys faster, cleaner and greener could receive a
share of £9.4 million to bring their ideas to life.
The Department for Transport is working with Innovate UK to
launch the 2020 First of a Kind (FOAK) competition to accelerate
innovation in rail. Now in its fourth year, the competition will
help transform rail travel for passengers and decarbonise the
network.
To mark the launch, Future of Transport Minister will be visiting former
competition winner Riding Sunbeams today
(13 January 2020), a project connecting solar directly to the
railway. The pilot, based near Aldershot station in Hampshire, is
supplying power to Network Rail’s infrastructure on its line to
Alton and could pave the way for the world’s first ever
solar-powered train.
This January Innovate UK will run events across the
country to speak to innovators, inventors, designers and experts
to find the latest technology that could transform our railways.
Last year saw 124 innovators apply for a share of £7.8 million.
Twenty-four innovative projects received funding of between
£250,000 and £350,000.
Transport Secretary said:
For 2 centuries the UK has been at the cutting edge of
rail technology. FOAK 2020 is part of the research
and innovation melting pot that will keep us there as we enter
another decade.
To build the railway of tomorrow we have to support the
inventors and innovators of today. This competition is designed
to find the next Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and help them create
the technology that defines our railway in the future.
Past winners include 4Silence’s plan to develop a noise-reducing
wall that works by diffracting sound waves from passing trains
upwards. This makes it as effective as a barrier 3 times its
height.
Another scheme supported by the competition was
Amey VTOL’s development of a
drone system that could carry out track inspections from the
skies. This avoids the need for people to set foot on railway
infrastructure.
The University of Birmingham’s Centre for Railway Research also
received funds for its plans to undertake the first mainline
testing of a hydrogen-fuelled train in the UK.
Future of Transport Minister said:
We have committed to lead the world in transport
decarbonisation and emissions reduction through our NetZero
programme.
By investing in renewable technologies the UK benefits from both growth in
the green economy and cleaner, greener transport.
Competitions like FOAK are the stimulus for
innovations which have the potential to revolutionise modern
railways: here and worldwide.
The country that invented the train, jet engine and the Harrier
jump jet is now leading the green transport revolution.
Having already supported trains that run on sunlight and
hydrogen, drones to survey our tracks and technology to tackle
leaves on the line, the UK is fast becoming once again a
hub of global innovation in transport.
, Chief Business Officer,
Innovate UK, said:
The UK’s rail network
is one of the nation’s vital economic assets. That is why we
are all committed to improving it and building on its green
credentials.
We are looking for pioneering projects from great British
innovators to make the railway ever more reliable and
sustainable.
Three briefing events will occur throughout the UK (London on 21 January
2020, Manchester on 23 January
2020, and Cardiff on 29 January
2020) for projects interested in entering, so potential
applicants can find out more about the process of applying.
The competition is open to organisations of all sizes and sectors
whose technologies could help to create a greener, more
cost-effective and customer-friendly railway with greater
capacity.
