Data and Digital Technologies in Rail 

29 March 2023

The rapid development of digital and deep technologies is already affecting our railway systems. Recently we have seen remote condition monitoring being introduced where manual inspection was limited due to lockdown. We have seen new timetables being rolled out at record speeds, and collaboration between different stakeholders has increased aided by the convenience of virtual meetings.

While working on our Railway Innovation Strategy last year, it became clear that many innovations rely on the availability of good quality data, people who understand how to utilise this data, and organisations that enable the use of data and digital technologies.

Therefore, through winter 2022 we have engaged our membership to understand the needs, opportunities, and challenges for better adoption of digital technologies in the railway industry. From this engagement we have developed six asks of Government, policy makers and clients, to enable, expediate and ensure the success of the UK railway’s digital transition over the Digital Decade.

To underpin the asks, this document looks at the past, present and the future of the digital railway.

The railway industry has been using digital techniques in its signalling systems since the Victorian era, with complex interlockings being developed as a digital state machine. More recently, the rollout of in-cab signalling – ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) and ETCS (European Train Control System) – has been re-branded the ‘digital railway’, to properly capture what the initiative is trying to achieve in the hearts and minds of the public, whilst dropping some of the jargon that is pervasive to our industry.

Today there are many initiatives to support our railways entering the Digital Decade. Those include the Rail Sector Deal and the creation of the Rail Data Marketplace for better data sharing and access. The Rail Technical Strategy offers a future technologies roadmap outlined in the five Functional Priorities, and UKRRIN’s Centre of Excellence for Digital Systems supports cutting-edge research and development in this field, not to mention the plethora of expertise and experience in our supply chain.

All these and many more initiatives align with the wider Government ambitions and strategies around data, Artificial Intelligence and cyber security. We imagine the railway of the future – full of smart sensors feeding information into data lakes for AI systems to optimise maintenance and operations. A railway fit for its users and fully integrated in the wider transport system.

To better expand on our six asks, we have shared direct feedback from our members, represented under each ask, sharing our members’ challenges, suggestions and thoughts that helped us develop this document.

Download the Report

Key Messages 

1. The railway’s digital transition requires leadership, strategy, and action, starting now. The UK railways will undergo a digital transition. Nobody, neither customers, suppliers, nor clients can afford to wait until years after the formation of Great British Railways to have strong cross-industry leadership, to define a strategy, or for solid commitment to the correct change and investment.
2. The UK workforce need to be empowered: through upskilling and creating the right culture. Technology does not exist in a vacuum. At the heart of every process, digital or otherwise, are people. Railways need a cross-industry drive to ensure our people have the right skills for the new digital world, and we need to empower those people through widespread cultural and organisational change to reap the full rewards.
3. Every organisation should place customers at the heart of everything it does and remain receptive to change. The freight or passenger customer of the 2020s is not the customer of the 1990s, and the customer of the 2030s will have even greater service and information expectations. The world is forever changing. Collaboratively, across the clientsupplier interface, we need to constantly ensure our offering reflects these expectations.
4. Invest in Innovation. Invest In Implementation. The railway is an experienced creator and user of data; however, digital capabilities are evolving at what would have been, decades ago, an unthought of pace. The industry needs to open itself up to different ideas from new and experienced innovators both in rail and other industries. This will require investment in innovation, implementation, and the business changes that go with it.
5. Operations and maintenance must embrace the digital future. There is an inevitability that maintenance and operations will change as more and more data – and subsequent asset and state knowledge – becomes available. However, this knowledge should not be treated as an additional extra. To reap the full benefits, digital techniques need to be core business activities. This means building in digital approaches from the ground up and designing assets, operations, and maintenance around them.
6. Collaboration and openness are vital, and this starts with clients. The East Coast Digital Programme is demonstrating what can be achieved through close supply chain collaboration with an open and agile client. This could be used as a model for other digital rollouts, with clients encouraged to be open in sharing their opportunities, challenges and needs. The sharing of robust datasets through appropriate channels should be built into procurement and service contracts to ensure compliance across supply chain.

An ‘open by default’ approach to data will be introduced, with common frameworks and standards across the sector created and led by a new Rail Data Service within Great British Railways.' 
The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail 

Data Case Studies 

 
Modernizing a vital rail artery - Bentley 

Empowering people through upskilling and creation of the right culture; how Network Rail is raising competence in information and data - Capgemini and Network Rail

Predicting delays on the UK Rail Network - Frazer-Nash Consultancy 

Digital Technologies Overcoming Physical and Linguistic Barriers to Rail Usage - Go Media 

Icomera's IcoShape Data Traffic Optimisation Tool Empowers Northern to reduce its Data Consumption by 20% - Icomera 

Enabling a Rail Data Marketplace for enhancing sustainability and data-based innovation within the rail ecosystem - Rail Delivery Group 

Sky's the limit for new rail Journey Planning solution - Thales 

The next generation Ai technology to help front-line teams with the mammoth task of lineside management - Hubble 

Transforming wastewater networks for a sustainable future - Aqua DNA

Class 185 Remote Condition Monitoring Project - Unlocking Digital Potential - Transpennine