Our year-end episode brings the team together for a quick look back and a clear look ahead. We reflect on how the Skills Beyond Scale work shaped 2025, and we revisit highlights including the Heathrow Express Supplier Challenge and a growing, engaged community. We outline plans for 2026: a milestone year marking the Rail Innovation Group’s tenth anniversary!

Featuring the Rail Innovation Group leaders: Liam Henderson, Deb Carson and Johannah Randall

Liam is joined by friend of the pod, OpenTransport Initiative's Hayden Sutherland, to unpack three fast-moving themes from Rail Live in Madrid. They compare what was promised on stage with what is actually being built, digging into where agentic AI is useful, where it struggles with complex, high-stakes choices, and why good visual UX still beats long conversational lists. The pair link this to the hard graft behind the scenes, from data quality and APIs to cross-sector standards and interoperability, with a wry metro mishap reminding us that a capable human still matters. For startups, the takeaway is clear. Do fewer shiny demos and invest in richer, trustworthy data and integration so your product scales beyond an MVP.

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In this episode, we sit down with Chris Jones from Heathrow Express—the team behind the 15-minute airport express—to hear how they’re throwing open the doors to new suppliers.

Heathrow Express is inviting startups and SMEs to help solve three real-world challenges:

• easing the pain of staff travel through airport security,

• showcasing and strengthening the premium passenger experience, and

• cracking the “last mile” connection beyond Paddington.

These aren’t theoretical ideas. They’re live problems waiting for practical, scalable solutions.

It all leads to the Heathrow Express Supplier Challenge on 9 December—a one-day, Dragons’ Den-style event where innovators will pitch directly to Heathrow Express and Heathrow Airport decision-makers. Expect a hands-on day: a ride out from Paddington, live pitches at Heathrow, and evening networking with the people who can actually make things happen.

If you build digital tools, passenger tech, or data-driven services and have ever thought “we could make rail run better,” this is your moment.

🎟️ Find out more and register here: Heathrow Express Supplier Challenge on Eventbrite

Tune in, get inspired, and get ready to step onto the platform.

In our latest episode, Johannah and Liam are joined by Rail Innovation Group member Pipcall's Johan Gericke and end user Miles Allcock. We dig into the upcoming requirement for trackside verbal communications to be recorded across the supply chain, not just by Network Rail control rooms. Johan explains what the rule means in practice for contractors and suppliers, and how mobile call recording can close the gaps when personal or site mobiles are used on track. Miles shares how access to recordings can protect everyone involved in safety critical work. This episode covers the tech that makes this solution workable in the field: cellular call recording rather than VoIP for clearer, more reliable audio, and the “phone-within-a-phone” set-up. Show link Pipcall guide: Call recording for safety-critical communications in rail: https://www.pipcall.com/resource/call-recording-for-safety-critical-communications-in-rail

In this episode, we speak with Tara Walsh, Project Manager for the Innovation Acceleration Forum within Network Rail’s Capital Delivery team. Tara shares how the Forum helps streamline the path from promising idea to practical adoption: supporting innovators with open conversations, clear feedback, and guidance through trials, product acceptance, and procurement.

We explore how technical and non-technical voices work together to assess whether a product solves a real problem, saves time or money, and is truly scalable and sustainable. Tara offers insight into the challenges of rolling out innovations across a large, complex organisation—and why success isn’t just about flashy tech, but about doing the basics well and understanding the business need.

Plus, we unpack the cultural shift underway in rail, where teams are beginning to ask: What else can we do? and How can we do things differently? Tara’s top tip for innovators? Keep it sharp, relevant, and focused—don’t bring a like-for-like solution and expect to impress.

In this episode, Johannah and Liam speak with Philip Pozzo di Borgo-Oliver, Managing Partner at Eureka!Europe, a consultancy that helps organisations build the internal capability to innovate—whether they're early-stage start-ups or established corporates. We explore the journey from idea to implementation: how to embed innovation culture across a business, how to overcome or manage projects through the business cycles that stall progress, and whether your organisation is innovating to create something new or simply to remove internal barriers. Philip brings sharp insights into Innovation Engineering, and shares his observations on the UK rail sector—highlighting how political uncertainty can undermine morale and momentum for change. If you've ever wondered how to turn a "Eureka!" moment into a real-world result, or how to nurture innovation in systems not built to move fast, this one’s for you.

What Moves Us – Episode 5: Mind the Gap – Where Rail Needs to Innovate

In this episode, we explore the innovation gap in rail and ask: will technology meet changing passenger expectations?

As behaviours shift, so do the demands on service delivery - but who has the oversight, authority, and appetite to invest in transformative tech? With the rail industry edging toward greater centralisation, could nationalisation actually make it easier to innovate, thanks to better collaboration and less duplication across the network?

We unpack the opportunities and complexities of procurement in a nationalised industry, and what this means for start-ups trying to gain traction in rail.

We also tackle one of the industry's biggest challenges: how to attract the next generation of engineers, developers, and digital talent. What will it take to make rail an attractive career destination?

This episode links to our upcoming event, Becoming the Employer of Choice, and continues the conversation on how the rail sector can position itself to recruit, retain and inspire the talent needed to drive innovation forward. For more details head to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-rail-innovation-group-12086193246