The Ritelite- Speedy Hire Ticket to Innovate 2025 collaboration returns to Nene Valley for its second year
On 5th November Ritelite Systems and Speedy Hire successfully staged the second annual Ticket To Innovate rail sector event at the historic Nene Valley Railway near Peterborough.
Celebrating the 200th anniversary year of the modern railway, the event built on the success of its 2024 debut and was significantly larger in scale and attendance, with more suppliers participating and a broader range of live demonstrations delivered in a working heritage rail setting.
The event continued to centre around sustainability, innovation, and collaboration, bringing key decision-makers and leaders from across the rail industry together to discuss real-world challenges faced daily across the sector at an event designed to foster open dialogue and problem-solving.
The aim remained clear: to bring suppliers and customers together to see the latest innovations in the rail infrastructure sector, with the net zero journey and practical deployment at the top of the agenda.
Key suppliers to the rail industry showcased and demonstrated their latest technologies, innovations, and solutions to support sustainable rail maintenance in the real-world environment of Nene Valley Railway. The exhibition once again took over the entire site, station, track, tunnel and attendee’s boarded the Ritelite-Speedy Express as it got dark for a trip up the track to experience the Ritelite rail lighting solutions in action.
Photos from Ticket To Innovate 2025
For Ritelite, the event again enabled our products to be shown in real applications. The popular tunnel tours gave attendees the opportunity to experience our high-output, sustainable temporary lighting solutions first-hand, supported by both Ritelite and Speedy teams. Throughout the day the Ritelite team engaged in productive discussion with many attendees which continued to highlight the evolving challenges of lighting and powering temporary rail repair projects and reinforced the importance of Ritelite’s continued commitment to delivering cutting-edge, sustainable, innovative, lighting products for rail and construction environments.
Daryl Doherty, Rail Director, Speedy Hire:
“We’re thrilled to have partnered again with Ritelite to deliver Ticket to Innovate for a second year – bigger, better and even more relevant. We had key decision makers at the event, and it was a huge success. The day gave customers and suppliers the opportunity to discuss specific needs and explore how, collaboratively and through innovation, we can overcome challenges together. You can really see and feel the step change in appetite to deploy new technology and sustainable practices at pace across the rail industry.”
Marcus Batty, Managing Director, Ritelite Systems:
“Our collaboration with Speedy Hire gave us the confidence to scale the event in 2025, and the response has more than justified that decision. The benefit of hosting the event in a real rail environment is that it sparks valuable conversations, which often lead to innovative ideas for solving issues unique to rail projects. Seeing products operate in a genuine working setting is rarely possible, and the growth from year one to year two highlights just how powerful that visibility can be.”
Technology meets Heritage
Ticket to Innovate once again demonstrated the power of placing emerging technologies in a live heritage rail environment, where the future of rail quite literally meets its past. It provided a compelling platform to show how lower-carbon, higher-performance solutions can move rapidly from concept to track.
Supporting Project Octopussy
During the event, a raffle was held to raise funds for “Project Octopussy” Carriage generator refurbishment project – An Amey initiative in partnership with Nene Valley Railway. The goal: to restore and repurpose a heritage railway carriage, transforming it into a self-contained mobile power hub capable of supplying onboard power to trains running from Nene Valley heritage railway.
The refurbished carriage will eventually house a hybrid generator power system, combining a diesel generator with a Ritelite RITE-POWER battery-powered generator, to deliver reliable, flexible power to support a wide range of railway operations. It will enable Nene Valley Railway to provide lighting and essential onboard facilities for its popular events and services, including key fundraising activities like “Christmas at the Railway” and evening experiences.
As organisers and partners, we’re proud to have created a space where ideas were shared, partnerships were formed, and challenges were tackled head-on. It’s been inspiring to hear how conversations started on the day are already evolving into real projects and initiatives.
We look forward to continuing the momentum and working together to turn ideas into solutions that deliver long term value for the rail industry.
Ritelite’s LED Lighting & Power Solutions for the Rail Industry
