Universal Signalling Ltd integrates TSL®/HID Global products

05 July 2025:

Universal Signalling Ltd, a UK-based scale-up radically reducing the deployment time and cost of railway digital signalling products, has established a supply agreement with Technology Solutions UK Ltd (TSL), a division of HID Global and the Swedish multinational Assa Abloy, both worldwide leaders in trusted identity solutions. Assa Abloy has over 61,000 employees in 70+ countries, with an existing footprint in rail through secure access products.

TSL® is a leading manufacturer of high-performance mobile RFID readers, used to identify and track products, assets, data or personnel. For over two decades, TSL® has delivered innovative data capture solutions to major companies all around the world using a global network of distributors and system integrators. Specialist in-house teams design all aspects of the finished products and software ecosystems, including electronics, firmware, application development tools and RF design. This agreement will see TSL’s cutting-edge, high performance and energy efficient UHF RAIN RFID reader modules fully integrated into USL’s technology stack.

Mark Beeson, Product Director at Universal Signalling, commented: “Our company ethos is to use Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware wherever possible, keeping deployment costs low for the client, accelerating time-to-market, and enabling us to lean on the relevant expertise and experience in the wider supply chain rather than reinventing the wheel.

“We have been working closely with TSL since Q3 2024. They have been extremely helpful, supporting us to establish the performance parameters of our architecture in the harsh rail environment, and helping us to integrate their modules into our end products. The performance of our technology stack, including TSL components, has now been verified in the field, and as a result we are excited to formally commit to making these excellent products part of our own going forwards.”

Bertrand Saillet, VP Hardware Engineering & TSL Product Segment at HID Global, added: “The Universal Signalling team first visited us at the TSL factory in 2024. That meeting helped us to understand the novel architectural proposition, high performance requirements, and harsh conditions on the railway, particularly with regard to EMC. Since then we have enjoyed being able to support the Universal Signalling team through their development and testing activities, so it is very exciting for them to now confirm our products will be integrated into all future system deployments. This is our first product application in railway signalling, and we look forward to a long and productive relationship.”

The full technology stack including TSL modules will be used in Universal Signalling’s first heavy-rail trial upon Network Rail infrastructure, which is pencilled in for Q3 2025 in South Wales.

Universal Signalling welcomes two new interns

30 June 2025:

Universal Signalling is pleased to announce the addition of two new interns, Dominic Hawes and Alexander Chan, to its growing team. The internships reflect the company’s desire to give back to the industry by providing an opportunity for those seeking a career in rail to experience life at a cutting-edge, innovative SME.

“We’re delighted to welcome Dom and Alex to the team,” said Dr. Nick Wright, CTO of Universal Signalling. “Their fresh perspectives, enthusiasm, and diverse skill sets will be invaluable as we continue to grow our capabilities and deliver on our vision for the future of railway signalling. Taking on two interns is a large commitment for a growing SME such as ours, but all the staff here agree it is important to help nurture and develop the next generation of engineering talent.”

Dominic is an Engineering Design (MEng) student at the University of Bristol with growing experience in railway signalling. Through summer placements and a year in industry in engineering consultancy, he has gained experience across railway operations, rolling stock and railway signalling. While he has strived to gain a broad grounding in railway engineering, he has started to develop specific expertise in the design, assurance, and implementation of digital signalling. Dominic has also achieved an Advanced Diploma in Railway Control Engineering from the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers.

Alexander is a second year Electrical and Railway Engineering student studying at the University of Birmingham. He will be bringing his enthusiasm to the Universal Signalling team, developing his industrial experience of software development, electronics, and research in a safety critical railway environment. Outside of his studies, Alex enjoys mentoring secondary school pupils and volunteering as a train steward on mainline rail tours.

Dominic and Alexander will experience a mix of day-to-day activities of the team, as well as completing individual projects steered by the more experienced universal signalling engineers, which are vital to the timely success of USL’s market entry.

Founded in 2022, Universal Signalling is on a mission to reduce the deployment time and cost of digital signalling through a unique blend of technology, operating model, and open interface specification. Earlier in 2025, the company’s team delivered their first commercial light-rail installation, with a heavy-rail trial to follow later in the year.

The internship programme is part of Universal Signalling’s broader commitment to developing the next generation of railway engineers and innovators. Dom and Alex will be working closely with the engineering and operations teams on live projects, gaining hands-on experience in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment, as well as being given challenging individual projects to complete.

Coventry install complete as VLR track opens for public demonstrations

02 June 2025:

Universal Signalling returned to the Coventry City Centre VLR demonstration site today, for a safety and performance verification exercise on the final track alignment. This marks the completion of the infrastructure installation, which was commissioned by Colas Rail and Coventry City Council in late March. Public demonstration runs of track and tram begin later this week, during which the Universal Signalling system will collect real-world performance and operational data.

Network Rail Innovation Acceleration Forum announces Universal Signalling trial sponsored by Wales and Borders route

19 May 2025:

Representatives from Network Rail, including Western, Wales & Borders, and the Innovation Acceleration Forum, announced today that funding for a mainline trial of Universal Signalling technology had been agreed after a demonstration visit to BCIMO in Dudley. The visitors saw Universal Signalling's unique hardware and software in action at the test track, including driving the Bance battery vehicle fitted with prototype US onboard.

The trial is supported by Network Rail's Innovation Acceleration Forum (IAF). Susan Millington, Network Rail's Head of Programme Management, and chair of the forum, commented on LinkedIn:

"I had an amazing day yesterday with Sam Bemment and Stephen Head of Universal Signalling where they demonstrated their new innovative signalling solutions for rural lines which will significantly enhance level crossing safety as well as provide enhanced traffic detection - all at a very affordable price(...) The Innovation Acceleration Forum I chair has agreed to support a trial to see the potential of these new products and how they will potentially serve a new era for railway signalling in the future."

The trial will be sponsored by Nick Millington MBE FREng, Wales and Borders Route Director, who added that he was pleased to be championing trials of new technology in the route. Signalling support will be provided by Joshua Robinson, Route Engineer (Signalling), who also commented on LinkedIn:

"Great visit to BCIMO in Dudley today to see Universal Signalling in action. It was impressive to see the system deployed in a live environment, offering a glimpse into how we can deliver safe, temporary signalling control without the need for traditional infrastructure. The potential applications are exciting – especially when considering the safety and time savings Universal Signalling could offer. Thanks to the team for the detailed demo and insightful conversations around integration, assurance, and future use cases. This kind of innovation could play a big role in how we approach flexibility and safety on the railway. Looking forward to seeing how it develops."

Full details of the trial scope, location and dates will be announced in due course.

Universal Signalling announces licence collaboration with QNX for enabling technologies

14 April 2025:

Universal Signalling, a UK-based scale-up developing a revolutionary line of low-cost and ultra fast-to-deploy railway signalling products, is pleased to announce a strategic licensing collaboration with QNX. This collaboration will harness the cutting-edge reliability and security of QNX® software to underpin the safety-critical functions provided by Universal Signalling’s product suite.

QNX provides trusted foundational software solutions for safety-critical applications, serving industries such as automotive, industrial automation, and transport. When matched with the state-of-the-art, off-the-shelf safety processors, the QNX® technology stack is fully certifiable as part of a SIL-4 system. QNX is renowned for its industry-leading real-time operating system, designed to meet the highest safety standards required for mission-critical applications. By collaborating with QNX, Universal Signalling aims to integrate proven best-in-class foundational software solutions with commercial, off-the-shelf safety hardware, and their own, patent-pending protection algorithms.

Sam Bemment, CEO of Universal Signalling, commented on the collaboration: “Safety and reliability are at the heart of everything the railway signalling industry does. Universal Signalling’s key product differentiators, low-cost and massively reduced implementation time, can only be achieved by integrating proven solutions from key industry providers. We are excited to have formalised our relationship with QNX, as it represents a significant step towards capturing market share by delivering our best-in-class signalling solutions. We are confident this collaboration will drive innovation and help shape the future of rail operations, worldwide.”

“This collaboration is incredibly exciting for us,” said João Pereira, Director, EMEA General Embedded Market at QNX. “We have seen early demonstrations of Universal Signalling’s technology and regard their product line as incredibly innovative. It is critical for the rail industry to innovate in this way if it is to drive down the costs of construction and operations. QNX’s real-time operating system is perfectly designed for applications such as those proposed by Universal Signalling’s systems.”

QNX technology underpinned two successful recent product demonstrations performed by Universal Signalling at the Global Centre of Rail Excellence in south Wales, in December 2024 and March 2025.

For more information on QNX products and services, please visit qnx.com

SFC Capital leads close of first tranche of pre-seed investment round in Universal Signalling

08 April 2025:

Universal Signalling has successfully closed the first tranche of its pre-seed investment round. SFC Capital led the round, with additional funding provided by a group of business angels. This milestone not only highlights investor confidence in Universal Signalling’s founders and technology portfolio, with its potential to fundamentally change the cost and efficiency of rail worldwide, but also its strong go-to-market strategy.

Universal Signalling was founded in 2022 by three engineers with wide experience in rail technology and operations. Dr Sam Bemment, Dr Nick Wright, and Stephen Head MBA all shared a frustration at how existing products, with decade-long deployment times, were stifling rail’s potential to underpin decarbonisation efforts and boost social inclusion. Universal Signalling’s products will dramatically reduce design and deployment time to days, saving the taxpayer money, and providing benefits to clients – and the travelling public – much sooner than alternative approaches.

This investment will accelerate Universal Signalling’s next-generation technology development and deployment, supporting rapid infrastructure modernisation efforts while reducing costs. With the backing of SFC Capital—one of the UK’s most active early-stage investors—the company is well placed to advance its proprietary technology and extend its reach to global transport networks.

Stephen Head MBA, Chief Operating Officer of Universal Signalling, and Universal Signalling’s investment lead, commented:

"Securing this investment is a key milestone for Universal Signalling. Our technology is designed to set new standards for speed, cost, and reliability in railway signalling, and having the support of SFC Capital and our angel investors validates our vision. This funding will allow us to scale development, bring our solutions to market more swiftly, and continue innovating at the highest level."

Edward Stevenson, Investment Executive at SFC Capital echoed this enthusiasm:

"From the moment we saw Universal Signalling’s business and technology proposition, we knew it had the potential to deliver a significant positive impact on the global railway industry. Their experienced team has demonstrated exceptional technical expertise and a deep understanding of the industry’s challenges, and we are excited to support them in bringing their groundbreaking solutions to operators worldwide."

Universal Signalling remains committed to reducing the cost and deployment time of railway signalling systems. With the first tranche of funding secured, the company looks forward to closing the second tranche in the next 3 months. All funds will be used to accelerate development of safety-critical elements, supporting early commercial deployments.

SFC Capital is the UK’s most active seed-stage investor, providing seed capital and support to promising British startups. By combining their leading investment funds with their angel syndicate, they have created a unique model that provides investors with diversified exposure to high-potential SEIS and EIS-qualifying businesses. Since 2012, SFC has invested in over 450 startups and partnered with the likes of British Business Investments to support innovation across all UK regions. To learn more about what they do and see their portfolio, visit sfccapital.com.

Sam Bemment, Universal Signalling's CEO, announces completion of round to applause at GCRE demo day.

Universal Signalling supporting Colas Rail to deliver Coventry Very Light Rail demonstrator track

24 March 2025:

Universal Signalling is proud to announce their support to Colas Rail on the delivery of a 220-metre demonstrator track for the Coventry Very Light Rail (VLR) concept in Coventry city centre. This innovative project aims to showcase the potential of VLR technology in providing an efficient and sustainable urban transport solution at a much-reduced price point.

The demonstrator track, set to be constructed along Greyfriars Road and Queen Victoria Road, will serve as a crucial step in the ongoing development and testing of the VLR system. The Coventry City Council project is funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority and the UK Government through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.

A global leader in light rail, Colas Rail has a long track record in delivering Urban rail schemes to benefit the West Midlands, renewing, upgrading and extending the Tram network on behalf of Transport for West Midlands as the principal contractor of the Midland Metro Alliance since 2016. Colas will be responsible for the construction and installation of the track, with Universal Signalling supporting the installation of their state-of-the-art vehicle protection solutions to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the CVLR vehicle during this trial.

The Coventry Very Light Rail concept aims to revolutionise urban transport by offering a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional light rail systems. The lightweight track design allows for quick and easy installation with minimal disruption to existing utilities, making it an ideal solution for urban environments.

Cllr Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change said, "We are at a really exciting stage of Very Light Rail in Coventry City Centre. We think it will be a real game changer in terms of how people move around, especially in smaller towns and cities and it will save cash, cut carbon and eventually provide a driverless hop on and hop off autonomous transport solution.

"It will be great to see it in the street scene and for local people to be able to actually ride on it. And of course, there is lots of interest from across the UK and further afield so we are really looking forward to showing everyone how quickly the track can be laid – that really is the clever bit of our system."

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands and West Midlands Combined Authority chair, said: "This revolutionary Very Light Rail technology, in which the West Midlands is leading the way, will slash costs and accelerate construction times for tram networks – allowing us to better deliver on my vision to connect communities with more affordable and accessible public transport. We are investing millions in this project, and the start of work on this test track shows how close we are to making this a reality."

Mark Beeson, Universal Signalling's Product Director, added: "We are thrilled to be part of this groundbreaking project. Our company ethos perfectly matches Coventry City Council’s vision of providing a fully featured system, but delivered at a much reduced cost base and short timescale via employing cutting edge innovation. This is an exciting opportunity for us to showcase our capabilities in a live operational environment."

The Coventry VLR project is expected to significantly contribute to the city’s efforts to decarbonise transport, tackle climate change, and improve air quality. The successful implementation of the demonstrator track will pave the way for future VLR projects across the UK and beyond. More information on the Coventry VLR On Road Test can be found on the Colas website here.

Universal Signalling achieves Network Rail approved supplier status

10 February 2025:

Universal Signalling Ltd has achieved approved supplier status for Great Britain's national rail infrastructure custodian, Network Rail.

Work led by US's Product Director, Mark Beeson, underpinned a successful financial and policy review by Network Rail procurement staff.

US has been added to the Network Rail Sourcing Platform, known as BravoNR. This means the company is now pre-qualified to bid to supply goods and services under a defined subset of categories.

GCRE Install and product demonstration complete

10 December 2024:

Six of the Universal Signalling team visited the new Global Centre for Rail Excellence (GCRE) site in Wales on Fri 6 December to fit the system demonstrator funded under a programme supported by the Department for Business and Trade, and InnovateUK to demonstrate innovations in railway construction technology. Infrastructure and vehicle elements of the system were deployed in just 1 hour 6 minutes by two operatives with no prior knowledge of the track layout.

Storm Darragh delayed, but did not prevent, end-to-end system shakedown over the weekend.

On 10 December, nearly 40 guests from across industry then joined a series of demonstrations by our team and another competition winner, Furrer & Frey, at the GCRE site.

Simon Jones, Chief Executive of GCRE commented:

"This is a great project. This is exactly the kind of thing that we have spent the last 7 years getting GCRE off the ground for. The difference that Universal Signalling could make to the railway is really exciting. We're looking forward to continuing to work with Universal Signalling as GCRE develops."

Universal Signalling exhibit at RIA's SigEx Event

26 November 2024:

Universal Signalling exhibited at the Railway Industry Association's annual SigEx event in Leicester on 26 November 2024. The event was attended by over 200 signalling experts from national and devolved bodies. The audience received excellent presentations on upcoming signalling projects and opportunities, including from Northern Ireland, Newcastle and Scotland.

Martin Jones, Chief Engineer at Network Rail, provided the keynote address in which he highlighted that in future, the industry would need to achieve more with less. He noted that innovation would need to play a key part in reducing the unit cost of signalling to enable affordability. This echoed the theme of the event, which was 'Innovative solutions to improve the affordability of Control, Command and Signalling' - a theme which exactly matches Universal Signalling's reason for founding!

Our stand welcomed many visitors over the course of the day and all were treated to the first outing of our modified Lego system demonstrator. Both the Lego trains, and our product portfolio were very well received by all.

Universal Signalling exhibit at Network Rail's Engineering and Climate Conference, Glasgow

19 November 2024:

Universal Signalling's team travelled to Glasgow on 19 November, after being invited to exhibit at the joint Network Rail and Railway Industry Association Unlocking Innovation event, at the University of Strathclyde. With over 400 attendees, the event explored the future of the railway in Scotland from a technology and operational perspective. The challenges of technology migration and a changing climate were hot discussion topics.

Alan Ross, Director Engineering and Asset Management, Network Rail, Scotland’s Railway, made a wonderfully relevant address to the audience around how low-cost signalling technologies had saved numerous rural Scottish lines from closure a generation earlier, but that new approaches were now needed as the technologies deployed then were now limiting operations in an era of growth.

This conference marked the first outing on the public exhibition circuit for our prototype signalling components which were well received by potential clients and end-users alike.

Universal Signalling runner-up for prestigious Gartner award

09 October 2024:

We are excited to announce that Universal Signalling, working alongside Wireless Logic Ltd and Mobius Networks Limited have been chosen as European runner-up in the 2024 Gartner Eye on Innovation Awards for Communication Service Providers. The team were just pipped to the post by a fully autonomous 5G bus.

This award relates to our work with BCIMO and the Global Centre Of Rail Excellence in developing and installing the first two demonstrators our Universal Interlocking product line. Congratulations to the winners in each global category.

Full details of the award and citation can be found on the Gartner site here.

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