Digital Twins State of the Nation
File type: pdf
File size: 54.84Mb
reports
State of the Nation: Digital Twins for UK transport
New research explores the state of transport digital twins in the UK, highlighting national and regional capabilities, barriers to adoption and opportunities to scale digital twin technology across transport networks.
A new report from Connected Places Catapult, commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT), provides the first comprehensive assessment of digital twin maturity across the UK transport ecosystem.
The Digital Twins: State of the Nation Report examines how digital twin technology is being developed and deployed across UK transport, with a particular focus on network management and crisis response. It explores regional capabilities, market readiness, international best practice and the actions needed to accelerate the adoption of digital twins across UK transport systems.
What is the state of digital twin adoption in UK transport
Digital twins are increasingly being used to provide real-time insights, support operational decision-making, improve resilience, and optimise transport networks.
The UK has world-class capabilities in digital twins, simulation, modelling and engineering integration, with recognised strengths across aviation, traffic management and urban mobility.
Leading regions including the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and London are already moving beyond experimentation and embedding digital twin approaches into current transport operations. However, adoption of this approach remains uneven across the UK, with many initiatives still at pilot stage.
The challenge is not a lack of technical capability. The report identifies fragmented governance, inconsistent data standards, limited interoperability, procurement challenges and uneven organisational capability as key barriers preventing digital twins from being adopted at scale.
Addressing these barriers could help successful digital twin approaches move beyond individual pilots and support wider deployment across UK transport networks.
A growing opportunity for the UK
Accelerating the adoption of digital twins could deliver benefits for the performance and resilience of UK transport networks, while creating wider economic opportunities for UK businesses.
Global demand for transport digital twin solutions was estimated at around £9.5 billion in 2025 and is forecast to grow around 15% annually. This suggests the UK is well positioned to benefit from both domestic adoption and export opportunities across rail operations, ports, freight logistics and cross-modal resilience.
Download the full report to explore:
- digital twin maturity across the UK transport ecosystem
- regional capabilities and areas of strength
- the role of digital twins in network management and crisis response
- the key barriers preventing wider adoption and deployment
- market readiness and international best practice
- opportunities for UK transport and industry
- recommendations for accelerating digital twin adoption.
Digital Twins State of the Nation
File type: pdf
File size: 54.84Mb
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