“Large ports can have thousands of containers stacked up, waiting to go. Imagine if ten of those containers could be placed on to a train heading in the direction they need to go at short notice. Our end goal is to encourage modal shift from road to rail, to get more heavy goods vehicles off our busy highway network to benefit the environment.”
Jason has worked in the railways for 30 years and is familiar with how the sector operates and its issues. But having a funded project through TRIG offered him the ability to talk to more people, he explains. “It made conversations a whole lot easier with senior professionals, and opened many doors.”
His team used the TRIG money to conduct a stakeholder engagement exercise involving dozens of rail and supply chain representatives over eight months about the data available to them, and how it was being used. Jason has also been working with trade association Logistics UK to identify companies who are keen to carry more goods by rail, and to showcase how his system could be used to good effect.
“We’ve almost got a product that satisfies what we asked of it, and this time next year I would hope we have a system that is being used right across the UK’s railway network. We hope to make the railway more accessible using data, work more efficiently and achieve environmental benefit.”
Jason urges other transport entrepreneurs with big ideas to apply for TRIG funding; and not just because of the money on offer. “The business advice you can access through the programme is great,” he says.
Applications are open until 27 November to take part in the 2023 TRIG programme.
