Railway Engineering 2025: the junction of data, design and delivery

SCT’s data engineer Konstantin Popov was invited to Railway Engineering 2025, a biannual conference organised by academics, dedicated to sharing the latest developments in engineering and technology in the rail sector. In this blog, he delves into his key takeaways from the event, highlighting climate change as a main driver of innovation. 

We’ve seen in recent headlines an increase in climate-change related railway malfunctions, from passengers evacuating hot carriages after a fault on the tracks to landslides from prolonged wet weather causing delays with debris littering tracks. These types of tangible challenges can also cause social friction; delays lead to decreased public trust and a decline in use in the rail industry – one of the lowest carbon intensive forms of transportation available in the UK. 

Addressing these types of climate-change induced problems can be incredibly complex, requiring cutting edge technology – such as AI – and a wealth of varied data to identify issues early. This was one of the main challenges and catalysts for technological innovation at this year’s Railway Engineering conference, a biannual gathering of rail leaders where I presented my latest paper.

What is Railway Engineering?

Railway Engineering 2025 was a resounding success, bringing an intimate group of attendees from across the world – from Japan to Saudi Arabia, Canada to Switzerland – to Edinburgh to discuss technological advancements in railway engineering. The attendees were a mix of academics, technical experts and high-level organisational leaders, focused mainly on emerging railway engineering technologies, providing a comprehensive industry perspective and forward-looking technological discussions. 

At this year's conference, I presented my paper ‘Data-driven optimisation of maintenance at railway switches and crossings’, offering the attendees insights into the work we do at SCT, predicting and preventing faults on railways. With over 100 presentations, a range of different topics were covered including high speed rail, earthworks, signalling and electrification, rail maintenance, and rolling stock aerodynamics. Among all of these topics, one stood out more than others: climate change and remediation in the industry. 

Climate change and the importance of data-driven maintenance

Many different aspects of climate change affect railway engineering to an ever-increasing degree. From wind damage and landslides scattering debris on tracks, to rails heating up causing buckling or misalignment, to flooding and increased precipitation requiring new technologies in drainage systems. Climate change seems to underpin a vast majority of technological advancements today, with attendees asking questions like ‘how can new materials withstand extreme weather?’ and ‘how can transport networks be decarbonised’ or ‘how can AI predict and mitigate climate-related disruptions?’. The repetition of climate change closely aligned with another key trend; the use of AI. Attendees discussed using AI and machine learning to manage the factors of climate change in better ways, from predicting faults and monitoring the effects of inclement weather. 

In terms of technology itself, SCT and the SWiX product was unique in attendance. There is an appetite in the railway industry to incorporate more machine learning and AI-backed analysis in order to efficiently provide modern solutions to our modern challenges. By using the data gathered by deployments around the country and around the world, SCT will be able to better tackle climate-change induced faults moving forward. 

Carrying the inspiration forward

I was inspired by the work presented at the conference, looking to apply some of the techniques, ideas and concepts in a wider sense for SCT’s monitoring technologies. From looking at the health of tracks and infrastructure, to putting the faults that are detected into further context and considering environmental factors to get a broader picture of track health, there are numerous insights from this event that will inspire further work at SCT. There is also such a positive and forward-looking sentiment of condition monitoring and development of technology in the wider rail industry. 

I look forward to the next edition of Railway Engineering; with such a warm and welcoming atmosphere, there are numerous opportunities to communicate, network, partner and collaborate on solutions for the future. And, by gaining insights into the international market’s needs, I believe that SCT is now well positioned to deliver new, improved and unique products for the rail industry.