Every passenger knows the feeling: the board says on time, the app says cancelled, and the station announcer says something else entirely. Minutes pass. The train never comes. Welcome to the crisis of passenger information – where data breakdowns generate more confusion than clarity.
The problem isn’t that information doesn’t exist; it’s that it’s fragmented, delayed, and often contradictory by the time it reaches passengers.
The Information Gap
According to Transport Focus’s Rail User Survey (2024), satisfaction with in-journey information has fallen to 74%, down from 82% the previous year. Nearly one in four passengers now say the updates they receive are unclear, late, or inconsistent, especially during disruption.
That reflects what the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has been cautioning since 2023: a patchwork of legacy systems and uncoordinated updates that cause confusion when services are cancelled, re-routed, or replaced by buses. In some cases, passengers “did not know whether part of their journey would be by rail or road.”
This isn’t just an inconvenience it’s a crisis of passenger confidence. When information fails, passengers lose trust not just in the message, but in the railway itself.
Why It Happens
Much of the UK’s passenger information infrastructure was built for a more predictable railway – fixed timetables, limited-service variation, and slower data flow. Today’s network is dynamic, data-heavy, and constantly changing. Yet the systems informing passengers often still run on logic that hasn’t evolved since the early 2000s.
But that doesn’t mean the hardware has to go. KeTech believes in evolution, not revolution. Modernising existing systems so they behave intelligently rather than a full replacement. With smarter data architecture and automation layered onto legacy equipment, operators can achieve the performance of a new system without the cost or disruption of a complete rebuild.
Automating the Chaos, Without Losing Control
At the heart of KeTech’s approach is intelligent automation. Its systems continuously monitor live data feeds and automatically handle routine but critical updates: setting the correct head code, announcing disruption reasons, adjusting stopping patterns, and updating displays the moment a route changes.
This automation means the network can respond instantly, but it doesn’t take away human control. Staff can still intervene at any time, sending ad-hoc messages to a single train, a specific station, or an entire fleet – quickly and easily. The system handles the repetitive tasks so staff can focus on what matters most: operational decisions, safety, and supporting passengers.
KeTech’s platform layers intelligence over existing infrastructure, integrating signalling, scheduling, and control data into a single, live ecosystem. When a train’s path changes, every connected display, announcement, and app updates automatically and consistently.
By evolving rather than replacing, operators retain the hardware they already trust while giving it the intelligence to think – and communicate – in real time.
Making Information Work as Hard as the Network
Restoring passenger trust means restoring informational clarity. That won’t happen through louder announcements or cosmetic upgrades, but through smarter, connected systems that adapt as fast as the network itself.
The “ghost trains” haunting Britain’s displays aren’t supernatural, they’re the residue of outdated logic. By modernising legacy systems and blending automation with human control, KeTech is turning data dead-ends into ground truth – where every message matches reality.
Because when technology takes care of the noise, staff can focus on what’s most important: supporting passengers along their journey.