The Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy has spoken about the progress being made on rail reform and how unlocking innovation on the railway is a key part in it.
Speaking at the Rail Innovation Exhibition 2025, he outlined in his speech the creation of GBRX as the newly established strategic innovation body, tasked to overcome the barriers to adoption of advanced technologies on Britain’s railway.
During his speech he also mentioned Chair of Shadow GBR Laura Shoaf, who he said, “Is bringing together the publicly owned parts of our railways, and that establishing a culture of collaboration and reducing fragmentation is not just beneficial—it’s essential”.
In January 2025, the Secretary of State for Transport set out her five priorities for Shadow GBR. GBRX’s mandate is to deliver priority four: ‘drive strategic innovation across track and train, forming links with world leading innovators to improve how the railway works for people and support the UK as a technology and AI power.’
The Rail Minister, Lord Peter Hendy, continued: “That’s exactly why we created GBRX, to challenge and accelerate change—to break the pattern of slow adoption that has historically held our railways back. Much of that delay is due to fragmentation, contractual complexities, and the way our system operates. GBRX is our solution to overcoming these barriers, helping to modernise the railway faster and embrace new technology more effectively.”
Already, GBRX is bringing together industry and academia, driving progress in AI, data science, and analytics. It’s enabling different parts of the railway to collaborate more efficiently, ensuring that when new technology is ready, we are ready to adopt it. Because, as you all know, that doesn’t happen on its own—it requires support, funding, and, most importantly, a railway prepared to seize the opportunity.
GBRX is operating under Shadow GBR for now and eventually as part of GBR itself.
Toufic Machnouk, Managing Director of GBRX said: “It is an honour to be tasked with the mandate of establishing and leading GBRX, I am bringing with me the team who have direct experience of mobilising the sector for the digital railway programme, and we are now building a specialised capability for strategic innovation, creating relationships with world leading innovators and collaborating across the sector to overcome barriers and maximise impact.”