Today, Monday, 11th May, the Department for Transport has launched a multimillion-pound competition to improve the passenger experience in Britain’s railways.

This is the ninth round of the First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) competition in which the Government, in partnership with Innovate UK, will provide £4.8 million funding for innovators to develop their ideas and present them to industry. The aim is to see them rolled out on the network in the lead-up to the creation of Great British Railways.

Previous winners have used technology-led solutions and AI to improve train performance and on-platform safety, with innovations for resolving persistent issues such as safety, reliability and anti-social behaviour.

This year’s competition is looking for ideas that will help major projects to be delivered on time and on budget, improve the performance of passenger services, and to reduce the environmental impact of the railway. In total, the government has provided £62.5 million in funding for previous rounds of the competition.

One of seven winners in 2025 was Transmission Dynamics Ltd, which developed intelligent roadside warning and analysis systems to prevent disruption caused by large goods vehicles colliding with low-clearance bridges and tunnels. The technology is already being trialled, and the detection system at one installation in Northumberland alerted Network Rail that a bridge had been struck, which enabled the damage to be quickly assessed and reduced the potential for disrupting services on the East Coast Mainline.

Another of the FOAK competition winners from 2025 developed an automated CCTV monitoring system to track deliveries to an HS2 development site, which, by integrating AI software, alerted site workers to the delivery of time-critical supplies and helped to keep projects on track.

Innovate UK has been delivering the First of a Kind competition since 2017 to develop and demonstrate breakthrough technologies for the railway industry and, hopefully, to see them adopted.

A Global Centre of Rail Excellence has been established in South Wales, where competition participants can deliver and demonstrate their projects.

“Innovation is central to bringing Britain’s railway into the 21st century, and our funding for the First of a Kind competition puts this principle into action, helping turn creative concepts into real-life solutions. “Supporting new ideas is all part of our plan to modernise track and train under Great British Railways, designing and adopting world-leading technology that improves passenger experience while supporting jobs, growth and homes.”

Lord Peter Hendy, Rail Minister