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The agentic AI market is exploding, projected to reach around $200 billion by 2034. It’s reported that in some industries, up to 80% of organisations have reported some level of agentic use. Rail isn't one of them. The gap isn't about tech maturity. The core capability already exists. I've watched pilot projects demonstrate what agentic systems can do when given the right environment. The frustration is that the digital backbone of the railway still reflects an earlier model

Ten years ago, I was frustrated. My background in transport planning had taught me something uncomfortable: if you want to improve rail through traditional means, you need enormous capital investment and years or planning process to deliver physical upgrades. Yet many passenger pain points weren't infrastructure problems at all. Better information, smarter digital tools, and more effective use of data could remove friction far more quickly. Technology looked like a faster rou

When Toronto’s Finch West LRT opened in 2025, the conversation did not centre on design quality. It centred on journey time. Within weeks, the line was being compared not to other rail systems, but to the bus it replaced and even to a runner along the corridor. What the design choices reveal The Finch West LRT was planned around short, local trips. Coverage mattered more than momentum. Stops are frequent and closely spaced across the 10.3-kilometre line. The vehicles move whe

I've watched cities invest millions in gleaming rail infrastructure and flood their streets with shared bikes and scooters. The hardware looks integrated. The reality feels anything but. What strikes me most is the precise moment when these systems stop talking to each other. You arrive at a modern station after a delayed train. Step outside and micromobility options sit right there, visible and available. Yet the rail system behaves as if that last leg does not exist. Journe

I realised efficiency metrics were failing us when systems kept improving on paper whilst passengers quietly stopped using them. Passengers were responding to a loss of perceived control. The metrics that blind us Sydney's tram extension to Randwick illustrates this. From a planning perspective, the upgrade made sense. From a passenger perspective, a familiar routine had been broken. Efficiency metrics tell us how well the system moves people who have already committed to usi

I still remember when we overlaid mobile phone location data onto what we thought was a complete picture of rail demand. Traditional models told a familiar story: home to work, work to home, AM and PM peaks anchored to major employment centres. But they were incomplete. What appeared was a set of consistent, high-volume movements that didn't line up with recognised peaks. Short-duration, off-peak trips clustered around health facilities, colleges, and logistics employment. Tr