The Rail Technical Strategy has been a major shift for the industry. It outlines how we are making a step change in innovation across the rail sector and provides us with a springboard to address long-standing challenges that the rail industry has faced.
I am pleased to support the refreshed strategy, which continues to provide us with opportunities to collaborate and build long-term solutions in areas such as environmental sustainability, affordability, reliability, and safety.
Rail reform will deliver closer integration between track and train, offering innovative ways of working that will optimise whole system performance, providing greater value for passengers, freight customers and taxpayers. Network Rail is committed to working with our industry partners to deliver the vision and goals of the Rail Technical Strategy.
Our investment in new technology is designed to help our knowledgeable and passionate colleagues deliver a railway fit for the future. We’re enabling our teams to carry out their roles in safer environments by fitting inspection systems to trains and aerial drones. By applying new inspection capability we’re enhancing our knowledge of asset performance and risk, moving us closer to ‘right asset, right intervention, right time’ management of our infrastructure. We’re investing in new infrastructure designs to respond to the challenges of net zero, and weather and climate resilience. We’re collaborating across industry to unlock and drive growth in freight traffic in support of wider government climate and economic growth targets. And longer term we’re investing in technologies such as quantum, automation and AI that will allow us to continue to become a more efficient, safer, and better performing railway.
Collaboration is at the heart of this strategy which couldn’t have been developed in isolation. We can only succeed when we work as one rail industry.
Let’s embrace this refreshed strategy, reset our expectations to harness technology and work together to deliver long term solutions.
October 2024
