£300,000 is available for organisations with automated designs for railway

Working with Network Rail, Innovate UK has revealed £300,000 available to be shared between businesses that have rail projects to fast-track automated design.

The aim is to build safer and higher-capacity railway infrastructure, save money and improve services as figures reveal around 1.7 billion passengers use the UK rail network each year. This number has more than doubled in the last 20 years – requiring innovative ways to design railway infrastructure that will support growth in future capacity.

Planning for the long-term future of the UK’s railways involves navigating a complex range of systems. As well as crossing many different types of terrain and land uses, there are underlying considerations such as stock and track maintenance, bridges and tunnels. Importantly, planning must reflect passenger need.

This competition is looking for solutions that could make automated design more efficient, allowing Network Rail to accelerate new designs, explore long-term performance and assess demand.

Open to industrial research projects as well as experimental development projects that are closer to market, the competition requires each project put forward to automate the design of at least track layout, overhead line electrification, traction power supply system, signalling systems or another element of railway infrastructure.

All projects must show how they build on existing automated design technology and work in a simulated rail infrastructure design environment, costing between £50,000 and £200,000 with a lasting period between six months and one year.

The competition opens on 22 October 2018 and the deadline for applications is on 19 December 2018.