The Department for Transport and Innovate UK have announced the 25 projects which are to share £9·4m of funding under the 2020 round of the First of a Kind rail industry innovation programme. It appears to be a longer list, than I’ve seen previously awarded.
Project 1 Train Swap From Seatfrog Ops
Seatfrog is an app, that enables passengers to quickly and remotely update their seat reservation to a different service. It already appears to be in use with Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, GWR and LNER. This application could have legs, as it looks a bit like eBay for First Class seats.
Project 2 Dynamic Capacity Management From Esoterix Systems Ltd
It is described as follows:
“Ticketing that adjusts to travel patterns and rewards particular choices, using a monthly subscription that will help customers to save money on a large upfront fee.”
Their web site doesn’t give much specific detail, as I write this.
Project 3 Next Generation Composite Poles For A 5G Enabled Railway From Hive Composites
It is described as follows:
“Installation of lightweight composite poles along railways to improve wi-fi speed, consistency and connectivity.”
Their web site doesn’t give more specific detail, as I write this.