New trends in the development of innovations in railway transport

Abstract

The purpose of this article is foreign experience in the development of innovations in railway transport. In order to achieve sustainable transport development, the key task is the transition from road transport to rail transport and the development of a single transport market. A distinctive feature of 21st century innovations in railway transport is that they will concern all elements and stages of the transport process. In some cases, it is difficult to distinguish between innovations related to products, services and processes, since they will overlap and mix: an innovative product project focused on a vehicle may at the same time entail technological innovations at the design or production stage. Innovation can be defined as a multi-stage process through which organizations transform ideas into new or improved products, services or processes in order to successfully advance, compete and differentiate in their market. The idea of smart, integrated and green transport has been incorporated into the EU transport policy. Innovative rail transport plays an important role in the comprehensive innovation process and is currently focused on the intermodality of both freight transport and public passenger transport. Some of the new technologies introduced in the railway sector are adapted or based on solutions previously implemented in other industrial sectors. The innovations observed in this study represent key elements in the field of technological development and structural organization of railways in order to achieve sustainable development of the railway transport system.