1、 Technology and InnovationThe role of visualising what the railway will look like in thirty to fifty years is the activity of innovators. The railway of the future will be constructed of new materials, used different ways, and operating with redefined processes all of which will have to be conceived

2、, developed and tested before we can use them.Whilst we operate the railway today as Great Britains infrastructure owner, and whilst we are accelerating the digital enablement of the railway over the next fifteen years using known technology, we must already be discovering and developing new ways of

3、 doing things to meet that need in the future, twenty to fifty years away.We know the things that we are asked to deliver today and we know that the government, together with Network Rail, has set out a vision of the future in the Rail Technical Strategy. However the journey that we must go on betwe

4、en todays railway and that vision is complex and challenging.It is important that as the infrastructure owner in Great Britain we lead the way and it is equally important that we share the risks and benefits with all the other people working and running the railway, within our own geographic boundar

5、ies and far beyond them.Thats why we are working in collaboration with industry partners; train operators and suppliers in Great Britain, and with other railway operations in Europe to achieve this. And its why the government of Great Britain and the European Commission have both entrusted us to wor

6、k in partnership with them. Our own government has given Network Rail over £100m to find new ways to deliver a railway that costs less, uses less carbon, and that delights customers whilst increasing capacity on the railway. Europe has an even larger pot of money available, if we show that we a

7、re working together, to explore new ideas and ways of work.So Network Rail has joined a consortium of major European railway companies and suppliers called Shift 2 Rail, to work openly together to share everything, funding, knowledge, expertise and resources to find solutions that we can all benefit

8、 from.Network Rail, in close collaboration with the Rail Safety and Standards Board and the train operators, is working to shape competitions and strategic partnerships with universities and Centres of Excellence (both academic and research centres around the UK and Europe to harness the best talent

9、, the best ideas and the most creative innovation. We are working in partnerships with bodies that oversee our industry our regulator and cross industry groups to shape and clarify the specification and funds available to enhance the railway.Together we will create a railway of the future delivering the best railway technology, processes and way