SBRI: FOAK 2023 High Speed Rail Systems Installation Demonstrations

To lead a project, you can:

• be an organisation of any size
• work alone or with others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations or the third sector as subcontractors

Applicants are welcome from all sectors. You can work alone or with other organisations as subcontractor.

You must include a potential integration partner to facilitate the live demonstration of your technology. The live demonstration should be in a suitable operational or construction railway environment and the location should be agreed with your integration partner.

Your project can involve:

• an owner of railway assets for example stations, rolling stock, track machinery or infrastructure
• an experienced railway organisation
• a rail organisation that has the potential to become a customer

We recommend you approach your potential integration partners as early as possible during the application process. This to ensure your industry relationships are well established before the competition closing date, so you are able to have their support from the beginning of the project.

Your project can include an organisation with railway expertise, such as train operating companies, a freight operator, rolling stock manufacturers or operators and infrastructure owners.

We also welcome projects that include an innovative start-up supply company that is already delivering in another sector.

Projects must:

• start by 1 December 2023
• end by 31 May 2024
• last up to 6 months

Proposals into this competition must already be high maturity at Rail Industry Readiness level 5 or above. You must evidence this as part of your application.

Your project can range in size up to total costs of £200,000, inclusive of VAT and last up to 6 months. We expect to fund between 4 and 5 projects across the five themes.

All awarded projects must budget a spend of 60% of the funding by 31 March 2024 and remaining 40% of the funding by 31 May 2024. This must be reflected in the eligible project cost breakdown and your milestones.

The aim of the competition is to deliver high maturity demonstrations of innovations to the UK railways. Your project must support the overarching principle for FOAK 2023: cost efficiency and increasing value for money.

Delivering financial sustainability is a strategic objective of the long term strategy for rail, and a pressing need for the sector given a drop in revenue and increasing costs in the light of inflation.

Your project, regardless of priority theme, must demonstrate how you will improve value for money, through increasing revenue or reducing costs whilst delivering positive outcomes in relation to your chosen priority theme.

This competition focuses on the following priority themes in relation to High Speed Rail System Installation:

• Theme 1 – Slab Track Installation Processes
• Theme 2 – Cable Troughing and Cable Laying
• Theme 3 – Installation of ERTMS (European Railway Traffic Management System) related equipment
• Theme 4 – Tunnel Fit Out Installations
• Theme 5 – Electric Multi-Purpose Vehicles Deployment

You must select which scope theme you are applying for. If a project covers more than one theme, choose one where most of the work is being undertaken.

You must demonstrate how proven technologies can be integrated into an operational or construction railway environment for the first time as ‘First of a Kind’ demonstrations. This competition aims to support innovative suppliers in preparation for market readiness.

Note that although software (also known as applications) for mobile devices may be in scope, only a limited number of these projects will be supported.

You must select one of the following scope themes. If a project covers more than one theme, choose the one in which most of the work is being undertaken:

Theme 1 – Slab Track Installation Processes

Innovation that has the potential to deliver efficiencies in slab track installation processes in a semi-automated way.

You project must focus on:

• operational cost reduction
• logistic feeds
• time saving
• improving safety

Theme 2 – Cable Troughing and Cable Laying

Innovation that has the potential to improve cable troughing and cable laying efficiencies.

Your project must focus on:

• installation speed
• adaptability to obstacles
• cable jointing resources
• required on-site logistics efficiencies

Theme 3 – Installation of ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) related equipment

Innovation that allows rail organisations to increase the pace of ERTMS installation including ETCS (European Train Control System) and GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway) related equipment, for example Balises and lineside cabling across their rail network.

Project must focus on:

• improving installation speed
• accuracy of component position finding and setting
• ease of documentation
• high safety precautions

Theme 4 – Tunnel Fit Out Installations

Innovation that allows rail organisations to increase operations efficiencies across tunnel fit out installations.

Project must focus on:

• improving installation speed
• transportation and inventory management
• automated positioning of components
• adaptability to different scenarios

Theme 5 – Electric Multi-Purpose Vehicles Deployment

Innovation that allows electric multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) to be deployed faster and run more efficiently, based on tractive power, capacity, speed, cost efficiency, environmental impact and safety.

Solutions should support the delivery and transportation of rail systems materials to the installation work fronts along the constructed route by means of rail and road.

Innovations should consider MPVs capability for hauling and ease of deployment of large bulk materials such as slab track panels, cable drums, lineside equipment and personel.

MPVs will preferably need to have working battery life of 8 hours or more with a view to fast re-charge times. Vehicles will need to be future proofed in line with latest technology industry thinking.

You must describe your project’s potential to be successfully exploited in a railway environment. We encourage you to discuss regulations, policy and other requirements with potential customer organisations before you submit your application.

Your project must:

• show how the technology delivers cost efficiency and increasing value for money in high speed rail system installation
• gather evidence about integration challenges and explain how you will de-risk the integration
• demonstrate to railway stakeholders and customers the commercial benefits of the solution
• make taking up technologies less risky and faster
• be pre-commercial
• collect customer and performance feedback
• provide a business case for using the solution in a commercial environment
• consider the priorities of current and future franchises
• include an evaluation phase, collecting data to support the cost benefit assessment of your proposed solution

You must provide evidence, showing how your innovation can attract customers, get insurance, supply warranties, and attract financing.

Your evidence must show:

• the technology works as designed when integrated into larger complex systems and delivers the expected outcomes
• the technology is accepted by and delivers benefits for high speed rail and the broader rail industry
• there is revenue potential for the innovation within a real commercial context
• the financing and business models can be delivered within a complex programme and consortium structure

You must demonstrate potential benefits to passengers and customers, including:

• why customers would buy the product
• how the funding will help applicants grow and result in broader economic benefits

We will give preference to applications which:

• help the innovation to be formally accepted for use on the railway, for example, through obtaining test certificates or product acceptance approvals
• offer innovations that can be used by multiple railway organisations

You must also include an evaluation activity to identify the cost and benefits of your deliverables, and to support commercial uptake of your product.

You must present at an industry briefing event to highlight the benefits you can bring to the railways.

You must complete an evaluation activity at the end of the project, measuring data to anticipate the commercial impact that adoption of the innovation will have on the railway network. You will need to submit your proposed evaluation activities and agree those with Innovate UK and HS2 at the start of your project.

Your project must create a highly interactive and innovative demonstrator in an operational or construction railway environment which will enable the most effective demonstration of the technology.

The most appropriate environment for this must be agreed with your integration partners, who will be well-placed to propose a representative environment.

This must be a railway environment where railway customers and industry representatives can witness the product as a compelling business proposition and should be as close to an operational or construction railway environment as possible.

The demonstration of your innovation is a key deliverable and must be included as part of your milestones.

You must work with your integration partners to achieve this, obtaining all required permissions and approvals. This must take the form of a launch event at yours or at your partner’s testing facilities, attended by a range of industry stakeholders with potential interest in your product.

Example environments can include:

• within a railway station
• in rolling stock
• in track machinery
• on railway infrastructure
• in a tunnel
• in the environment close to the railway

This list is not exhaustive, however, and others may be more appropriate to demonstrate certain types of technology. We will consider demonstrators in settings highly representative of these environments.

Where required, the event may be online to access a wider selection of stakeholders, but in this case the events must be augmented by evidence of your deployment in a highly representative environment.

You should de-risk all aspects of this before bidding into this competition to ensure that it can be delivered to the requirements of DfT, HS2 and Innovate UK.

Innovate UK KTN hosted a briefing for the event on 14th June: click here to watch the recording.

If you want help to find an organisation to work with:, contact Innovate UK KTN’s Transport team.