Twenty-six cutting-edge projects that aim to improve passenger experience on the railway have launched as part of Innovate UK’s First of a Kind competition. The projects are being supported by a multimillion funding package by the Department for Transport (DfT).

The First of a Kind competition is run in partnership with Innovate UK, working closely with Network Rail and train operators. It offers grant funding for innovative projects to be tested on the railway, to give them a better chance at being bought by train operators, freight companies and Network Rail.

Given the Transport Secretary’s clear direction to “put passengers at the heart of every journey”, this year’s winning projects focus on improving safety at the platforms, passenger safety and reducing incidents of vehicles hitting railway bridges. The DfT said that, with the collaboration of Network Rail and train operators, these innovations would help to “improve rail services and infrastructure where it’s needed most.”

Among the winning projects is IntelliPan Network, which will reduce delays for passengers by using AI to detect faults on overhead lines, eliminating dangerous, service-disrupting dewirements.

Another successful project, SafeRide 5G, will empower passengers to report incidents using their own devices safely and privately via onboard Wi-Fi, boosting response times and removing key barriers to reporting, improving passenger safety.

Twenty-six successful projects will be supported with £5 million in funding from the DfT, which said this boost demonstrated Government’s “commitment to trialling innovative technology to modernise our railway and boost the passenger experience”. It added that the projects would help to deliver better services for passengers, encouraging more people to take the train and supporting growth as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said: “The winners of this competition are taking cutting-edge technology to address some of the biggest challenges facing the rail industry, making a railway that works better for the people and goods using it.

“These innovations are putting safety, reliability and passenger experience first, like IntelliPan Network using AI to detect faults on overhead lines, reducing disruption caused by dangerous dewirements.

“Through this funding, we are building a platform on which innovation can thrive, giving new technologies a chance to succeed and driving economic growth as part of the Plan for Change.”

Previous competition winners are already being used widely across the railways. Amongst them is the Portable Track Geometry Measurement System, which provides immediate track information to engineers to speed up the lifting of speed restrictions or line closures, getting passengers to their destinations quicker.

Mike Biddle, Executive Director for Net Zero at Innovate UK, said: “The innovations receiving support through this competition will contribute to a more accessible, safer, and efficient railway system throughout the UK. The competition highlights the importance of collaboration with industry partners and focuses on delivering high-maturity demonstrations, ensuring seamless integration into the existing railway infrastructure.

“Delivered by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, on behalf of the Department for Transport, the FOAK rail programme seeks to identify and support outstanding, innovative solutions. Funded organisations will showcase the creativity and impact of their ideas through live demonstrations.”

The twenty-six successful projects have started work on the new technologies, with testing to take place over the coming months.

The Challenge: Doing More with Less in Rail Maintenance

Rail operators are under increasing pressure to maintain the safety and reliability of their networks while keeping disruptions to a minimum. The challenge is complex: inspection windows are shrinking, qualified inspection staff are becoming harder to find, and maintenance budgets are under constant pressure. Traditional manual inspections, often carried out on foot with handheld tools, depend heavily on the inspector’s experience and judgment. While experienced crews deliver quality results, human factors such as fatigue, poor weather, and reduced visibility inevitably affect outcomes. This is especially true in complex and safety-critical areas such as turnouts, where small measurement inaccuracies can have serious consequences. In many cases, the data collected during manual inspections is incomplete or inconsistent, making it difficult to move from reactive “fix-when-it-breaks” approaches toward proactive, predictive maintenance strategies. The rail sector increasingly needs inspection technologies capable of delivering fast, consistent, and objective measurements—at full track speed—without compromising accuracy.

Introducing LRAIL: AI-Powered Rail Inspection

Pavemetrics’ LRAIL, now part of the Automated Vision Systems product line within Eddyfi Technologies, was developed to address these exact challenges. This AI-powered, laser-based inspection solution captures accurate, repeatable measurements of all major track components at full track speed. The system combines two high-resolution laser-camera 3D triangulation sensors—manufactured in-house—with integrated inertial measurement units (IMUs) and GPS/INS navigation, enabling the creation of precise, geo-referenced inspection records that can be revisited at any time.

LRAIL automatically detects, classifies, and measures issues such as missing fasteners, irregular ballast profiles, tie degradation, and defects in frogs, switches, and other components—while simultaneously measuring full track geometry parameters—delivering a complete inspection in a single run, without the need for multiple systems, separate passes, or extensive manual follow-up.

A New Standard in Track Inspection

LRAIL redefines what’s possible in railway inspection— especially when it comes to turnouts—among the most complex, costly, and safety-critical track components. Traditionally, inspecting a turnout required slowing down or sending crews on foot for manual walk-throughs, which was time-consuming and left room for inconsistency.

➡ Watch how LRAIL inspects turnouts at full track speed

Operating at track speed, LRAIL captures comprehensive, high-quality measurements of turnouts and all other critical components—including ties, ballast, fasteners, frogs, and switches—in a single high-speed pass. Its integrated system, with perfectly synchronized sensors, ensures that every measurement is taken under the same conditions for maximum consistency.

Operators can define their own grading standards and custom rules, which LRAIL applies automatically and consistently across the network. Geo-referenced outputs in formats such as JPEG, CSV, XML, LAS, and SHP integrate seamlessly into asset management and GIS platforms, enabling teams to quickly pinpoint issues, rank them by severity, and allocate resources where they’ll have the greatest impact.

By turning subjective inspections into precise, consistent data, LRAIL empowers railways to target the right work at the right time and cost—optimizing maintenance, maximizing budgets, and keeping networks moving without disruption.

Real-World Impact: From Two Weeks to Two Days

A recent deployment with a US Class 2 railroad shows how LRAIL transforms inspection speed and data reliability.

Before LRAIL, inspecting a section of track—especially turnouts—took up to two weeks using manual walk-throughs. Inspectors relied on spot measurements at selected points, so results varied by inspector and often left gaps in the record. The process was slow, labor-intensive, and limited in scope, making it harder for planners to see the full picture.

With LRAIL on a hi-rail truck, the same section was inspected in just two days. The system produced a complete digital record of every component—captured to a consistent standard in a single high-speed pass. This detail allowed the maintenance team to base plans on objective, comprehensive data rather than incomplete notes.

The result was not only faster inspections, but a shift to data-driven decision-making: priorities became clearer, budgets more precise, and crews better scheduled.

“We were able to capture our entire single main and east main in record time—over 1.2 TB of high-quality data collected. Using traditional hi-rail methods, this would have taken close to two weeks. With LRAIL, we completed it in just 10–12 hours at track speed. The level of insight we gained in such a short time is truly amazing.”

A Proven Path: Smarter, Faster Rail Maintenance