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The Rail Innovation Survey compares the results of two surveys of rail professionals, conducted in 2019 and 2021, showing that:
The following report analyses the results of two surveys undertaken 18 months apart in November 2019 and July 2021. The aim of the two Pulse surveys is to determine how the rail sector perceives itself in regard to innovation. The results examine what progress has been made within the industry to build up its confidence as an innovative, modern industry. Both survey's have been conducted by the Pulse Business, an independent company. Respondents consist of those within the rail industry - suppliers, clients, industry groups and stakeholders.
Respondents were asked how important it was for the rail industry to be innovative, with responses showing relatively little change from November 2019 to July 2021. In both surveys, the significant majority of respondents said it was 'Very Important' - 84% and 80% in 2019 and 2021 respectively, with 16% and 17% respectively responding 'Quite Important'.
Both the 2019 and 2021 surveys asked respondents how innovative they felt other sectors are, including finance, defence, automotive and transport as a whole. The reason for asking these questions was to see how rail professionals view other sectors in comparison to their own. Interestingly, although rail was seen as less innovative than the comparator sectors, rail was seen as getting more innovative from 2019 to 2021, whilst sectors like automotive and defence saw a drop in the perceptions of those sectors as innovative.
Facilities, resources, policies and processes all have an impact on how innovative the rail sector can be. The survey asked respondents what they felt were the biggest factors for innovation in rail. When asked which policies and processes had the greatest impact on innovation in rail, respondents said procurement was the main issue in both 2019 and 2021. However, industry sponsorship and champions had risen by 7% points over the two surveys.