Innovate UK put Adaptable Carriage on track towards first commercial trials

UK transport minister Jo Johnson has announced this week that 42 Technology has been awarded almost £350K by Innovate UK to help further commercialise its unique Adaptable Carriage train passenger seat mounting system.

Adaptable Carriage, which was showcased at last year’s international Railtex exhibition, enables the seats and tables within passenger trains to be automatically folded and stowed to create space to carry freight on off-peak services. The system could also be used to create space on demand to accommodate more wheelchair users, luggage or bicycles.

The Innovate UK funding is awarded as part of its ‘First of a Kind: Demonstrating Tomorrow’s Trains Today’ scheme. It enables 42 Technology to install its technology into a train carriage for the first time. This will form part of a project expected to take 10 months.

Following successful testing, Adaptable Carriage can then be piloted under the Flexible Freight programme. This is being promoted by the UK rail industry’s Technical Strategy Leadership Group.