First of a Kind 2020 launches to find this century’s Brunel
Department for Transport and Innovate UK launch competition to drive innovation on the railways.
Organisations developing cutting-edge technology focused on making rail journeys faster, cleaner and greener could receive a share of £9.4 million to bring their ideas to life.
The Department for Transport is working with Innovate UK to launch the 2020 First of a Kind (FOAK) competition to accelerate innovation in rail. Now in its fourth year, the competition will help transform rail travel for passengers and decarbonise the network.
To mark the launch, Future of Transport Minister George Freeman will be visiting former competition winner Riding Sunbeams today (13 January 2020), a project connecting solar directly to the railway. The pilot, based near Aldershot station in Hampshire, is supplying power to Network Rail’s infrastructure on its line to Alton and could pave the way for the world’s first ever solar-powered train.