A Railway Innovation Strategy April 2022
INTRODUCTION This report looks to accelerate the creation of the low-carbon, cost efficient, reliable, and user-centric railway by examining the state of rail research, development, and innovation currently, and providing recommendations for improvement.
investment, but, investing in research and development without proper support for innovation means that the benefits offered by novel technologies and ways of working cannot transpire. In short, we need to concentrate on turning our world leading research and Ddevelopment base into real, tangible changes to our operational railway. We are doing well in R&D and we need to concentrate on innovation.
There are six key asks which, if implemented together, will enable the UK to remain a world leader and exporter of innovative rail technologies and services in an ever more competitive field. At the end of the document a series of case studies highlight innovations. We have deliberately selected some projects which have failed to make it through the ‘innovation’ phase, through no fault of the technology involved, to demonstrate the damage that a failing innovation pipeline is doing to our industry.
Effective innovation translates new solutions into established new practice and delivers them with urgency and pace. The solutions must be practical, reliable, and affordable, satisfy customers’ and society’s needs and minimise demands on funding and resources.
Research, development, and innovation are all important to the continued success of the railway. The question is whether we have the optimum environment to encourage them. Research and development represent an essential investment in any industry, and rail is no exception. Their importance to creating new understanding and capabilities should not be underestimated. Innovation is just as important, but crucially, from a business perspective, this is where measurable benefits begin to accrue – reducing costs and improving customer experience. All three represent an
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Research, development, and innovation: how do we define these terms? Research and development refer to the processes of paper or laboratory study, and physical creation and advancement, respectively. Research and development are vitally important, but until their application, would not typically bring benefits to a business. They are concerned with knowledge creation, and capability/technique demonstration. The Oxford English Dictionary defines innovation as ‘the introduction of new things, ideas, or ways of doing something’. The key word is ‘introduction’ – innovation is the beginning of the process to turn something novel into business as usual. At some point on this journey, the expenditure of resources will be offset by the business benefits, meaning the innovation represents a ‘net-gain’. Research, development, and innovation all require funding, but, with a few exceptions, innovation is where that funding pays back. RSSB are leading on a collaborative piece of work to create a common language around these definitions to ensure the correct understanding during discussions within, and outside, our industry. This work will feed into the Whole Industry Strategic Plan and will be published separately.
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