Case Study: Northern Rail exploring AI solutions with Zing Data

We are excited to announce that Zing Data was selected from over 100 startups to participate in the Future Labs program, driving innovation in data-driven AI solutions for the UK railway industry. Over 12 weeks, Zing Data collaborated with the Northern Rail team to enhance visibility into staffing and training processes.

The Problem

• Huge scale: Northern Rails serves 85+ million passenger journeys p.a., but has more cancellations than desired
• Poor visibility into staffing: Northern has limited visibility into the training completion status of its trainees or when a trainee can become fully operational

High training volume & complexity

Balancing training needs, leave requirements, and running trains is an extremely challenging task. In 2024 alone, more than a hundred drivers and conductors required training, with some needing over a year to complete their training.

Note: The data displayed above is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent real-world or operational information

The Solution

• Unavailability forecasting: Robust statistical models that consider all data up through the latest week Continual model rebuild to capture timetable, week, role, sickness, depot, diagrams, people in training, training completion, and other factors
• ‘What if’ analysis: Makes it easy to understand how shifts in sickness, strikes, seasonal effects, or other factors would impact crew absences
• Mobile and natural language availability: AI-powered natural language querying with guardrails iOS, Android app for easy question-asking

Zing Data Presentation at Future Labs Expo in London

Zack Hendlin (Co-founder and CEO of Zing Data) in London, December 2024

About Future Labs

Future Labs is a joint initiative from UK train operators; London North Eastern Railway, Transpennine Express, Northern Trains and Southeastern

This first-of-its-kind program in UK rail provided Zing Data and other participants with the opportunity to learn from industry experts representing all four operators. Zing’s innovative ideas and products were tested in a real rail environment, with direct feedback provided by potential future clients within the rail industry.

About Northern Rail

Northern is the second-largest train operating company in the UK, running approximately 2,500 services daily. We manage over 460 stations and serve more than 500 locations across the north of England, transporting 100 million passengers each year.

Our fleet of over 360 trains—comprising diesel, electric, and bi-mode units—is maintained at five Train Care Centres. With operations on this scale, we employ over 7,000 people. Additionally, our training academies in Leeds and Manchester trained approximately 300 apprentices in 2024.

Learn more

• Future Labs
• Northern Rail

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