The Future of Rail: From Satellite Technology to a Better Passenger Experience
posted 17th August 2026
Rail may be one of the UK’s oldest industries, but some of the technology shaping its future is anything but traditional.
TickEat recently spoke with Liam Henderson, Founder and Chair of The Rail Innovation Group, about how the sector is changing, the technologies already being introduced across the network, and what needs to happen for innovation to move from promising trials into long-term adoption.
Founded ten years ago, The Rail Innovation Group helps startups and smaller suppliers navigate their way into the rail industry. According to Liam, the conversation has changed significantly in that time. The challenge is no longer convincing the industry that it needs innovation; it is helping new suppliers progress from pilots and trials into ongoing commercial contracts.
Satellites are becoming part of the railway
One of the more unexpected areas Liam discussed was space-based technology.
The Rail Innovation Group is helping the rail sector explore how satellite technology can be applied to railway challenges. That includes obvious applications such as GPS, positioning and passenger connectivity, but also more surprising uses.
As climate conditions change and the ground surrounding railway infrastructure dries and moves, satellite technology can be used to monitor those changes remotely and help identify potential risks to the railway. It is a good example of how rail innovation increasingly extends far beyond what passengers actually see onboard.
Trains that can monitor the track ahead
Another area Liam highlighted is technology that effectively gives operators a better view of what is happening across the network.
Members of The Rail Innovation Group are developing systems that look out from the front of trains and assess the track from the driver's perspective. The technology can identify vegetation, obstructions and other potential issues, helping operators detect problems and improve the efficiency of the railway.
There is also innovation happening around engineering and maintenance. Rail teams often have a very limited overnight window to carry out work on the track, so technology that helps workers access sites more quickly, sign in efficiently and remain safe can make a significant difference to how much work can be completed. Some of those solutions are themselves using satellite technology and monitoring systems.
Making rail easier to understand
Innovation is not only about infrastructure. Liam also spoke about companies creating richer journey data for passengers.
Traditional rail data might tell an app that a train travels from one station to another, but it does not necessarily explain much about the experience being offered. New datasets could help journey-planning apps and AI tools better understand the characteristics of individual journeys and communicate that information more clearly to passengers.
That could support everything from smarter journey-planning tools to new leisure and travel packages, ultimately helping people understand the network rather than simply navigate a timetable.
Could a more connected railway work better?
Liam also sees greater coordination as one of the significant opportunities for the future of UK rail.
He pointed to the fragmentation passengers currently experience across ticketing and transport connections. A more integrated system could make it easier for rail operators to coordinate with one another and with connecting services such as buses.
Rather than different transport providers simply publishing their own timetables and expecting passengers to make the connections work, services could increasingly be planned around one another.
The same principle applies when disruption happens. Greater coordination between operators could make it easier for resources to be moved around the network and for services to respond collectively when weather or other incidents affect one part of the railway.
The next challenge is turning innovation into normality
Perhaps the biggest theme from our conversation was that the ideas themselves are no longer the main obstacle.
The industry already knows it needs new technology, new suppliers and new ways of working. The harder question is how those businesses become embedded into rail for the long term. For The Rail Innovation Group, that means increasingly focusing on relationships between smaller innovators, major rail organisations and potential partners.
As Liam put it, rail remains a people-to-people industry. Events, introductions and relationships continue to play an important role in helping an unfamiliar supplier become a credible option for operators and buyers. That lesson applies whether a company is developing satellite monitoring technology, passenger software, signalling systems or products for the onboard experience.
TickEat has joined the Rail Innovation Group to keep close to conversations like this one and ensure our community can fully support rail's onboard food and beverage ambitions.
For F&B brands hoping to enter rail, understanding the wider direction of the industry matters too. Buyers are increasingly thinking about passenger experience, sustainability, data and operational efficiency alongside the product itself.
Want to meet the current buyers shaping the F&B onboard experience?
TickEat's upcoming Dinner with the Buyers: Rail brings food and drink suppliers together with buyers from across the train industry.
If you're looking to understand how rail procurement works, what buyers are prioritising and where your brand could fit into the future passenger journey, join us and start those conversations in person.
Join Dinner with the Rail Buyers and meet the people shaping what comes onboard next.
