Alstom launches first U.S. Innovation Station to accelerate rail mobility innovation across North America
New hub will connect transit agencies, cities, start-ups, universities, and industry partners to advance sustainable mobility solutions and strengthen collaboration across the North American mobility ecosystem.
www.alstom.com
Alstom, global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, today announced the launch of its first-ever Innovation Station in the United States, the latest example of the company’s investment in the country’s transportation sector, the people behind it, and the educational institutions that support it.
The Innovation Station will be located in Pittsburgh, alongside Alstom’s global development center for signaling and train control. Directed by internationally recognized transportation and mobility leader Karina Ricks, the U.S. station joins Alstom's international innovation network alongside centers in Paris, Stockholm, Singapore and Montreal.
Finding global solutions by connecting new, local leadership perspectives
Alstom’s Innovation Stations create dedicated spaces for collaboration by transit agencies, cities, universities, technology centers, start-ups, and industry partners. They identify promising local ideas and partnerships, accelerate the development of creative solutions, and provide a platform to test and incubate new concepts with potential for impact around the world.
Designed around a “local for global” approach, Alstom’s U.S. Innovation Station will focus on developing mobility solutions that improve accessibility, sustainability, resilience, and passenger experience.
Alstom recently unveiled two examples of the fruit that these Innovation Stations can produce. At the InnoTrans transportation tradeshow in Berlin last month, the company demonstrated a system, engineered in partnership with Deutsche Bahn, to operate trains remotely from a control center. Alstom is also showcasing a new tool, AI Talk to My Train, which uses artificial intelligence to help maintenance and operations technicians trouble-shoot and resolve issues on rail vehicles with plain-language commands. Alstom brought an interactive version of this tool to InnoTrans and its North American counterpart, APTA EXPO, in Chicago this week.
“To solve today’s mobility challenges we need to bring together the best ideas across sectors, disciplines, and communities,” said Michael Keroullé, President of Alstom Americas. “Building on what we’ve learned from our stations elsewhere in the world, this new hub will allow us to work side by side with the U.S. transportation sector’s leading thinkers and innovators, including our own people, to advance real solutions and sustainable economic growth.”
Leadership to drive transformation
As the inaugural leader of the Alstom’s first Innovation Station in the United States, Karina Ricks brings deep expertise in transportation, mobility, infrastructure, urban design and economic development. Most recently a partner at the urban strategy consulting firm Cityfi, Ricks has held a variety of other leadership roles, including Associate Administrator for Innovation at the Federal Transit Administration, founding Director of Pittsburgh's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, and Director of Transportation Planning for Washington, D.C.
Throughout her career, Ricks has led transformative initiatives including Universal Basic Mobility pilots, integrated mobility payment systems, and MovePGH, recognized as the nation's first Mobility as a Service system.
“Innovation happens when governments, communities, and industry come together around shared challenges,” Ricks said. “Alstom’s newest Innovation Station will create a space where transit agencies, cities, researchers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders can collaborate on practical solutions that improve mobility today while shaping the transportation systems of tomorrow. I am excited to help build partnerships that accelerate innovation, expand opportunity and deliver meaningful benefits for passengers and communities.”
Alstom in the U.S.
Alstom is the leading provider of rolling stock and rail services in the U.S., having delivered more than 12,000 new or refurbished vehicles to rail agencies and airports nationwide, including in New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, and New Jersey. It also built the first high-speed trains made in America and is the country’s leading private rail operator, carrying millions of passengers each day for more than 15 rail and airport customers.
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