Reflecting on 2025
It has certainly been a busy year for the MoniRail team.
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From attending and exhibiting at events across the world, to the success of our quantum project, the team have gained lots of knowledge that we will be taking forward with us into 2026.
To reflect on this, we spoke to Peter Ainsworth, CEO at MoniRail, on the key highlights from the year and what to expect from the team in 2026:
Quantum project recognition
“The progression of the quantum project has certainly been a key highlight for the team this year. Building on our previously allocated prestigious SBRI: Quantum Catalyst Fund (Phase 2) contract, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Innovate UK, we received further funding to develop a Quantum-based navigation system for railways to address the issues arising from the loss of satellite signal in tunnels. We received the funding towards the latter part of the year, as part of the UK Government’s landmark investment in quantum technology.
“This funding has and will further enable us to build upon our work on this exciting project, alongside our partners Transport for London (TfL), Imperial College London, University of Sussex, University of Birmingham, PA Consulting, QinetiQ, and Unipart. Watch this space for further project updates in the new year.”
An award-winning year."
“We were also recognised for our work on the quantum project with our consortium partners this year, with the project receiving a highly commended recognition in the ‘Digital and Technology Project of the Year’ category at the Association of Project Management (APM) Awards 2025. This achievement is testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, and we look forward to driving the project further next year.”
Building the MoniRail brand presence
“Another key highlight from the year has been revamping our website, in tandem with a big push on social media. If you aren’t already following us, you can find us over on LinkedIn here.
“We have also taken part in and exhibited at a range of different rail and innovation focused events around the world this year, from WCRR 2025 in Colorado Springs to Global Rail 2025 in Abu Dhabi, the Rise of IoT and Big Data in Rail event in Cologne to RIA’s Unlocking Innovation series of events in the UK.
“It is important that we take the time out from the day-to-day to get involved in these events, as it enables us to find out what is going on across the wider industry and provide us with the chance to network with our friends from across the rail industry. It is also important that we build our presence so that you get a sense of what we are doing behind the scenes, and we look forward to doing more in this space next year.”
Bridging the gap between academia and rail
“A key objective for MoniRail is to bridge the gap between academia and rail. With a team of talented academics at the heart of the business, we are in a strong position to achieve this.
“The expertise within the organisation helps us to translate fantastic academic ideas into tangible commercial concepts, to further drive innovation across the rail sector. We feel that so far, we have been successful in achieving this and look forward to continuing to do so next year and beyond.
“The team have also delivered several speeches this year, including a talk at the Railway Engineering 2025 conference at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, on ‘a holistic approach to identifying rough rides and monitoring train and track performance’, amongst many spotlight presentations about the impact of the MoniRail solution and Quantum Positioning in rail.”
Looking ahead
“It has been a great year for the team, full of significant achievements. The commitment and dedication from our team and partners enables us to do this and we look forward to accomplishing even more next year.
“Thank you to our friends and colleagues from across the industry for your continued support and partnership – we look forward to seeing what we can achieve in 2026 and beyond. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
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