What Moves Us

For our 1st episode of 2024, Johannah, Deb & Liam discuss potential key themes of the year ahead (politics, politics & politics). Plus, Liam spoke with Jude Hough, an Innovation Growth Specialist at Innovate UK Edge to hear about the support available for startups through the organisation. They discuss working directly with SMEs to provide coaching and help to realise the potential of a pr...

Liam & Johannah speak with Natasha Marsay, Network Rail's Accessibility and Inclusion Policy Lead, to hear about the good work being undertaken to enable autonomy for customers: including a chat about how inclusivity means more than just providing level access; trying to balance all the needs of various passenger groups; the challenge of providing consistency of experience across the station e...

In this episode Liam spoke with friend of the Rail Innovation Group, John Lawrence. With a history of bringing innovation into rail from both within and without rail, we talked about his experience with signalling, corporate constraints, mentorship and even the waves of (innovation) change.   Plus John gives his insight on large organisations' appetite for risk as well as his advice for new recrui...

Liam & Johannah discuss the current uncertainty on national rail's future, including asking who benefits from Scotland's off-peak all day trial. Plus Liam speaks with Ben Jones, Business Development Manager at S&B (09:45), to ask him of his experience working within a larger supplier - what are their challenges with the innovation space; and does the company want to innovate, or does it ha...

We spoke with Window Seater's Marcus Allender on the origin of the journey guide app, from the French countryside to helping Gail the Goose find her hat!   We hear how the developers have sought to respond to an industry need to improve journey experience, bringing diversity of voices into the stories selected, as well the various commercial routes to roll out.

Liam & Johannah catch up after the summer to discuss the Rail Innovation Group's plans for autumn, plus Liam speaks with GCRE's Director of Strategy and Skills, Rob Forde, (at 17:20) to hear about the exciting plans for the massive Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE), including opportunities for local communities, local institutions, as well as SME's nationwide - it's not just a test site!...

We speak with Eurostar's Jon Witt to discuss how the diversity of cultures​ in the organisation help Eurostar to build a virtuous circle of attracting great staff to deliver great services. We discuss the merging of Eurostar and Thalys cultures, hearing how people across both organisations are already working​ collaboratively together.​  We discuss lessons that can be brought to the future develop...

In this episode Liam speaks with CrossTech's Haydon Bartlett-Tasker, discussing all things algorythms, analytics, gardens and collaboration, as well as the challenge of being an SME in the rail industry: iteration is the name of the game! Don't worry, we do end with positive message on the future.

Remarkably, the Rail Innovation Group's Deb, Johannah & Liam are all in the same room, in the same city so we had to take the opportunity to have a discussion on the latest news from the world of GB rail, as well as to have a deep dive into our recently published paper, Improving the Innovation Funding Ecosystem (download or read on our website, railinnovationgroup.com)

In this episode Liam Henderson & Deb Carson spoke with Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain of East West Rail to discuss the role of innovation in the wider railway project, as well as the opportunities created by this unique project to deliver services across a range of communities. Daisy shares her insight of the rail innovation landscape & lends her support to start ups and SMEs keen to engage with the pr...

Liam speaks to Ben Saunders of Signapse about the use of information in sign language using AI at some National Rail stations. We discuss how the photo-realistic avatars convey key details of audible announcements, how to sign unusual stations, how passengers have interacted with the technology, whether they can truly replicate audible announcements, & what's next! signapse.ai

Johannah & Liam chat on whether future mobility has made it into rural areas, plus we introduce our new thought piece on funding innovation which looks at the different measures of success between the public & private approach to innovation project funding - is there an opportunity to change the approach, why wait for structural changes? Download the report at railinnovationgroup.com  

In this episode Liam speaks with Neil Barnfather MBE, Chief Commercial Officer of GoodMaps. They discuss the application of the wayfinding technology in the GB rail context, realising the benefits of enabling self-led journeys through railway station and other interior environments using only their mobile devices.   Links: https://www.goodmaps.com/ Network Rail project vids: https://www.youtube.co...

This bonus episode provides the extract of the interview we recently had with Nomad Digital's Mike Butler to discuss how they are working to innovate through building on existing platforms, and their advice for smaller companies - don't be afraid to collaborate!  nomad-digital.com

In this episode Liam, Johannah & Deb get together to discuss the new, new government. What do we hope for in upcoming policy announcements and how do we hope the true value of investment will help to spread opportunities around the country. Plus, we have an interview with our member Nomad Digital's Mike Butler do hear how they are working to innovate through building on existing platforms, and the...

Johannah & Liam discuss the topic of the most recent Rail Innovation Group Meet Up held to discuss the Network Rail R&D Benefits Framework. They cover the implication of the decision to delay the transition to Great British Railways (GBR) and how the continued uncertainty is affecting small suppliers.

In this episode Johannah, Deb & Liam discuss this year's InnoTrans in Berlin. At this biannual trade fair bringing the global rail industry together we look back at our impressions of how a general mood of uncertainty was influencing companies' and governments' investment plans, as well as their journey towards Net Zero.   We had a lot of useful conversations with our members as well as the wider...

In this podcast Liam, Johannah & Deb get together to discuss our plans for a study into innovation funding, how apprentices can support diversity within larger companies, as well as an exciting update on our Parcels as Passengers workstream! 

In this episode Johannah & Liam were joined by Faizan Patankar of (relatively) new rail industry entrant, Amygda, to hear about how the company has found their entry into the rail sector, having previously worked in aviation. We discussed the how the company had to 'learn the language of rail' to engage with partners and a challenger to the way rail goes about maintenance planning!

In this episode Johannah, Liam & Deb Carson review the implications of the multiple infrastructure announcements made during 2021. Discussing the knock-on effects to the image of rail in the eyes of new suppliers, they consider whether rail will be an attractive market to SMEs who are now more remote from the proposed HS2 network & not part of the Union Connectivity links. Plus, will the decisions...

Edited podcast featuring Johannah Randall & Liam Henderson's interview with Johan Berhin of Swedish company Green Furniture Concept. They discussed doing international business over the pandemic period. We hear how the company's mission to use natural design to improve place-making is enhance public spaces & how people treat those spaces, and we discuss their vision to be a completely sustainable...

In this episode Johannah Randall & Liam Henderson were joined by Johan Berhin of Swedish company Green Furniture Concept to discuss doing international business over the pandemic period. We hear how the company's mission to use natural design to improve place-making is enhance public spaces & how people treat those spaces, and we discuss their vision to be a completely sustainable company.

Liam Henderson travelled to Sheffield to meet up with the team at 3Squared to see how they'd got on over the last tumultuous year. We covered how the company had recruited, up-skilled, & kept a sense of teamwork throughout the remote period.

The new vision for rail? Johannah & Liam discuss their first thoughts on Great British Railways: The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail published on 20th May 2021. They look over the plan in terms of the offer for passengers & the outlook for small suppliers.

We're joined by our friend & regular guest Deb Carson, where we discuss how even the ticket buying process can support the decarbonisation agenda by making a consumer-centred service. Plus we introduce the Rail Innovation Group's latest workstream to explore the opportunities for rail & cargo bikes to provide an end-to-end solution for small cargo - what infrastructure would we need & what are the...