TransiT - Digital Twinning Research Hub for Decarbonising Transport
Lead Research Organisation:
Heriot-Watt University
Department Name: Sch of Social Sciences
Abstract
Our vision for the TransiT Hub is to harness the transformative power of Digital Twinning, and associated digital technologies, to solve the most pressing problems of our age - the rapid and radical decarbonisation of transport , holistically, across all modes - Road, Rail, Air and Maritime, and at a national scale. The TransiT Hub will create a new interdisciplinary challenge-led national digital twinning capability to deliver scalable solutions of the integration and decarbonisation of transport, providing the thought leadership and coordination it requires. This is an urgent response to the climate emergency that will advance understanding of a complex and adaptive system, reducing uncertainty and risk for time-critical investments into sustainable, ethical and affordable decarbonisation. It will be centred on expert problem articulation of the challenges, ensuring planners, operators, and policy makers, will use this new capability to deliver national transformation and realise good climate, economic and social outcomes across the stakeholder community, as well as providing a blueprint for other sectors. While past approaches utilised small-scale, real-world trials and progressive scale-up, the need for rapid transition to a low-carbon economy, combined with the increasingly complex interaction between transport modes precludes this approach. This situation is currently holding back private and public investment and risking the UK's leadership in tackling climate change. Scalable digital twinning offers a way of quickly assessing and narrowing the decarbonisation options for the complex whole transport system.
To? realise our vision we will co-create 9 Federated Transport Digital Twins across modes and passenger/freight types, culminating in a Federated Transport System of Systems (FTSoS). These FTDTs will use novel capabilities to support the design, development, delivery and operation of a reliable, secure, resilient, inclusive, decarbonised transport system at lowest cost and delivering best value. We will use an active and agile learning-by-doing approach, that can adjust to stakeholders, withstand scrutiny, and feedback new knowledge to the next iteration.
The creation of the FTSoS will address a new paradigm of Whole System Digital Twinning - bringing together, coordinating and extending existing DTs in the sector, delivering capabilities currently unachievable within siloed mode specific DTs. Our approach addresses the challenges in interoperability, security and resilience, human-centred design, data management, policy delivery, and new business models, whilst leveraging existing DTs, and Cyber Physical Infrastructure, and growing national digital twinning expertise and capability. This will be shared with, and benefit from, wider national DT programmes, including NDTP and Energy System DT (ENSIGN), and other strategic investments such as DARE and the EPSRC Transport DT Network+, as well as linking with representative bodies and collaborations such as DfT's TRIB and the DT Hub.
The Hub will bring together seven distinguished higher education institutions, UofG, HW, UoL, UoB, CU, UoC and UCL that reflect a careful balance across modelling transport modes and the cross cutting themes essential for federated digital twinning including human factors, cyber security,? connectivity, policy, economics, and digital twinning tools. Furthermore, significant in kind support has been committed by external partners across government and industry partners, including the Department for Transport and over 40 organisations across the transport sector. Our foundational work will be explored through application focused use cases developed with our industrial and academic partners providing practical anchoring of the research; knowledge transfer through bi-directional secondments and the generation of evidence to support robust policy
To? realise our vision we will co-create 9 Federated Transport Digital Twins across modes and passenger/freight types, culminating in a Federated Transport System of Systems (FTSoS). These FTDTs will use novel capabilities to support the design, development, delivery and operation of a reliable, secure, resilient, inclusive, decarbonised transport system at lowest cost and delivering best value. We will use an active and agile learning-by-doing approach, that can adjust to stakeholders, withstand scrutiny, and feedback new knowledge to the next iteration.
The creation of the FTSoS will address a new paradigm of Whole System Digital Twinning - bringing together, coordinating and extending existing DTs in the sector, delivering capabilities currently unachievable within siloed mode specific DTs. Our approach addresses the challenges in interoperability, security and resilience, human-centred design, data management, policy delivery, and new business models, whilst leveraging existing DTs, and Cyber Physical Infrastructure, and growing national digital twinning expertise and capability. This will be shared with, and benefit from, wider national DT programmes, including NDTP and Energy System DT (ENSIGN), and other strategic investments such as DARE and the EPSRC Transport DT Network+, as well as linking with representative bodies and collaborations such as DfT's TRIB and the DT Hub.
The Hub will bring together seven distinguished higher education institutions, UofG, HW, UoL, UoB, CU, UoC and UCL that reflect a careful balance across modelling transport modes and the cross cutting themes essential for federated digital twinning including human factors, cyber security,? connectivity, policy, economics, and digital twinning tools. Furthermore, significant in kind support has been committed by external partners across government and industry partners, including the Department for Transport and over 40 organisations across the transport sector. Our foundational work will be explored through application focused use cases developed with our industrial and academic partners providing practical anchoring of the research; knowledge transfer through bi-directional secondments and the generation of evidence to support robust policy
Organisations
- Heriot-Watt University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Transport Scotland (Collaboration)
- Wavelength NDT (Collaboration)
- Department of Transport (Collaboration)
- University of Sheffield (Collaboration)
- Rolls-Royce (Project Partner)
- INCEPT/CILT UK (Project Partner)
- Intel Corporation (UK) Ltd (Project Partner)
- Stagecoach Group plc (Project Partner)
- Costain (Project Partner)
- Northern Powergrid (Project Partner)
- Scottish Hydrogen& Fuel Cell Association (Project Partner)
- Siemens plc (UK) (Project Partner)
- rail freight group (Project Partner)
- Ordnance Survey (Project Partner)
- Flexible Power Systems (Project Partner)
- SEStran South East of Scotland Transport (Project Partner)
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (Project Partner)
- TRANSPORT FOR LONDON (Project Partner)
- DFDS (Project Partner)
- DHL (Project Partner)
- Aerospace Technology Institute (Project Partner)
- Newcastle University (Project Partner)
- Nokia (Project Partner)
- Hydrogen Vehicle Systems Ltd (Project Partner)
- John Lewis Partnership (Project Partner)
- MariTrace (Project Partner)
- Marine Capital Limited (Project Partner)
- Babcock International Group Plc (UK) (Project Partner)
- Midlands Connect (Project Partner)
- National Highways (Project Partner)
- Tesco (Project Partner)
- WSP UK LIMITED (Project Partner)
- nVIDIA (Project Partner)
- The Scotland 5G Centre (Project Partner)
- DNV (Project Partner)
- AGS Airports Limited (Project Partner)
- Campaign for Better Transport (Project Partner)
- Dynamon Limited (Project Partner)
- RAILX DIGITAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED (Project Partner)
- IOTICS LTD (Project Partner)
- GEOINFOSCAPE LIMITED (Project Partner)
- SYSTRA (Project Partner)
- Dover Harbour Board (DHB) (Project Partner)
- Road Haulage Association (Project Partner)
- The Hub Company Ltd (Project Partner)
- Airbus (Project Partner)
- Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) (Project Partner)
- University of Strathclyde (Project Partner)
- Community Transport Association (Project Partner)
- Mott Macdonald (Project Partner)
- Vahanomy (Project Partner)
- EON Reality Ltd (Project Partner)
- University of Sheffield (Project Partner)
- North Tech (Project Partner)
- Queen's University Belfast (Project Partner)
- Bentley Systems (Project Partner)
- Stena (Project Partner)
- Urban Transport Group (Project Partner)
- Lloyd's Register (Project Partner)
- Ocado Group (Project Partner)
- EDINBURGH TRAMS LIMITED (Project Partner)
- Scottish & Southern Electricty Networks (Project Partner)
- Pinsent Masons LLP (Project Partner)
- SGN (Project Partner)
- Slingshot Simulations Ltd (Project Partner)
Publications
Archibald B
(2025)
Modelling and verifying BDI agents under uncertainty
in Science of Computer Programming
S. Mordue
(2025)
Corporate Guide: Delivering Resilient Infrastructure
Sherwood Hale, S.
(2024)
Interview with Rail Professional
Tian Z
(2024)
Efficient and Balanced Exploration-driven Decision Making for Autonomous Racing Using Local Information
in IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles
| Description | Partnership for ontology development |
| Organisation | Department of Transport |
| Department | DfT, DVLA and VOSA |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Impact | In development |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Partnership for ontology development |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Department | Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Impact | In development |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Partnership for ontology development |
| Organisation | Wavelength NDT |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint development of ontologies |
| Impact | In development |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Transport Scotland |
| Organisation | Transport Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Research report on charging and refuelling needs of freight vehicles across Scotland |
| Collaborator Contribution | Access to the TS network of stakeholders |
| Impact | Research report for TS to input into TS policy and planning |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | CILT visit at National Robotarium, Edinburgh, 20.2.2025 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The event explained to CILT how robotic, AI and automated technologies can be applied to sectors including logitics |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cilt-uk-visit-to-the-national-robotarium-tickets-1142413392209 |
| Description | Co-creation Workshop : Achieving Resilient Freight Electromobility across Road and Rail 19-20.11.2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 100 particiamnts over 2 days addressed key topics within the freight and logistics electrification sphere, including the challenges of electrification, distribution, battery technology, and the resilience of operations against climate impacts; delved into how these factors influence the operations of diverse entities such as energy generators and distributors, rail and road freight operators, logistics hubs, and blue light services; explored the financial aspects and implications of transitioning to electrified systems. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://dare.ac.uk/events/co-creation-workshop-achieving-resilient-freight-electromobility-across-ro... |
| Description | Connected Digital Twins Summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation "How digital twins can be used to decarbonise transport" at Connected Digital twins Summit 30-31.11.2024 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://uk.digitaltwin-summit.com/ |
| Description | DFDS |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with DFDS to look at how their ferries operating in/out of Port of Dover and plans for electric ferries can be used as part of Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to share further data and time for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | DfT Workshop: Innovating Green Technologies for Transport 5.2.2025 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Sharing expertise |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | DfT academic engagement event at Leeds University 10.3.2025 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This event brought together academics from across the UK with an interest in transport, from any discipline, with DfT policy and R&D programme leads. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | E-FWD: UK's Energy Tech & Innovation Hub |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A Q&A and networking event, with a strategic briefing by the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar. Prof David Flynn was a member of the Industry Leaders Panel. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Giving a talk at Analytics For Digital Earth Event (around environmental digital twins) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The final Mardia funded Digital Earth workshop. The digital earth project aims to bring people from industry, government, and academia to combine expertise and discuss how to design and implement digital twins and link them to form a digital earth. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/analytics-for-digital-earth-tickets-1256412717259?aff=oddtdtcreator |
| Description | Jaguar Land Rover |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with JLR to look at how their HGV fleet operations in South East of England as part of Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to collaborate for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Logistics UK's Logistics Finance Forum event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Talk to Logistics UK membership on progress in researching the use of alternative fuels in logistics operations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Mott MacDonald |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with Mott MacDonald to look at how they could support the Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to share their work done with Port of Dover for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Port of Dover |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We are working closely with Port of Dover to develop a digital twin that couples port operations, road freight and maritime freight for decarbonisation. Since visit to Port of Dover, they have been interested in the collaboration and are an active partner in the development of the digital twin |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
| Description | Presentation to GB Rail Data and Information Systems Interface Committee |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 17th Sep 2024 - Presentation to the the GB rail Data and Information Systems Interface Committee (DISIC) presenting the aims of TransiT, the project structure, and the specific aims and objectives of CLD2 in the first phase of work. We have a standing invite to return later in the project to follow up. Note URL provided evidences group and core membership. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.rssb.co.uk/about-rssb/groups-and-committees/technical-strategy/system-interface-committe... |
| Description | Presentation to GB Rail Decarbonisation Working Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 20th Feb 2025 - Presentation to the working group (URL provided evidences the group's existence and primary membership but not the specific activity) presenting the aims of TransiT, the project structure, and the expected touchpoint with he rail industry in the first phase of work (the later was primarily presented from the perspective of CLD2, although the freight representation may be relevant to other CLDs). We have a standing invite to return later in the project to follow up. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.rssb.co.uk/about-rssb/groups-and-committees/sustainability/sustainable-rail-executive/su... |
| Description | Presentation to industry representatives as part of Cohort 8 of the Connected Leaders programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to rail industry decision makers and DfT members of the aims of the project and touchpoint to rail in the remainder of phase 1. URL provided evidences programme rather than specific event, which was a workshop as part of the 8th cohort. Specific requests for engagement around rail freight. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.connected-leaders.co.uk |
| Description | Presentation to senior rail professionals and international academic colleagues as part of study tour - TU Dresden |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 27th Feb 2025 - Presentation to 15 senior leaders from Network Rail (students on the programme), and around the same number of academics and postgraduates from TU Dresden as part of a study tour on our PGCert Digital Railway Leadership visiting Dresden. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | SRF Annual Meeting with stakeholders 23.10.2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | An invite-only Knowledge Transfer event to industry partners |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Tesco |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with Tesco to look at how their HGV fleet operations in South East of England as part of Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to share their truck movement data for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | UK Power Networks |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As part of the project we have engaged with UK Power Networks as the DNO for South East of England as part of Challenge Led Demonstrator with Port of Dover. They have shown interest and willing to share their digital twin models/data for the development of the digital twin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |