In the recent Spending Review 2025, the government has announced billions of pounds of investment for the UK rail network.1In particular, this includes announcements of investments in the rail infrastructure across the North of England, including spending commitments for upgrades to the TransPennine route between Manchester and York and funding for local transport across a range of Northern cities.2 The government has also indicated that it remains committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail, a proposed rail project to connect cities across the North of England.3 The recent announcement of British Steel’s contract to continue to supply train tracks for Network Rail provides a further sign of the government’s ongoing commitment to the British railway industry.4
These announcements serve to highlight that this is an exciting time for innovation in the British railway industry. From our headquarters in York, Secerna is well placed to help protect railway innovation across the North of England and beyond. York has been a historic centre of the British rail industry for nearly two centuries, with York’s railway station being the largest in the world upon opening in 1877. York has also played a leading role in the formation of today’s railways, being the base for the construction and servicing of steam locomotives and rolling stock on Britain’s railway network for more than 120 years. At Secerna, we are proud to build on this history of railway innovation and support the future of the rail industry.
Jason Boakes, a founding partner of Secerna, has been heavily involved in protecting railway innovation for over two decades, with his work with the rail sector continuing to the present day. Jason will be drawing on his extensive experience in protecting innovation, both in the rail industry and elsewhere, when presenting a webinar to The Rail Innovation Group on 9 July 2025.5.
A noteworthy example of Jason’s longstanding involvement with the rail industry comes from the York-based Jarvis group. Whilst in operation, Jarvis and its associated companies provided support services to the British railway industry, focussing on track maintenance and playing a key role in keeping the UK rail network running. Jason was involved with protecting significant innovations in track maintenance during Jarvis’ operation.
Key Innovation
An example of a key innovation that Jason helped protect is EP1348057, relating to removing ballast from a rail road bed. Affectionately known as “The Mole” this innovation enabled the use of a single vehicle to continuously lift and remove ballast during track maintenance. Other examples include EP1561861, known as “Slinger”, relating to the delivery/removal of rails and sleepers and allowing the efficient renewal of rail track, and EP2118371 relating to bonding adjacent ends of rail sections and providing for improved bonding of rail sections. Jason and Secerna are therefore well versed in obtaining patent protection for inventions solving technical problems faced across the whole rail industry.
Please contact us for a complimentary 1-hour consultation to discover how Secerna can help protect your innovation in the rail industry.
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[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document/spending-review-2025-html
[2] www.nsar.co.uk/2025/06/spending-review-2025-impact-on-rail/
[3] www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/spending-review-10bn-for-rail-projects-23bn-for-hs2-promise-of-northern-powerhouse-rail-11-06-2025/
[4] www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k1jjkd9e0o
[5] www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/member-munch-learn-protecting-your-innovative-ip-tickets-1215711729509