The new hub joins Alstom’s innovation network in Paris, Stockholm, Singapore and Montreal and will sit alongside the company’s global development centre for signalling and train control.
Alstom has launched its first Innovation Station in the United States, adding a Pittsburgh site to its international network of innovation centres.
The station will be located alongside Alstom’s global development centre for signalling and train control in the city. It will be directed by Karina Ricks, a transportation and mobility specialist, and joins existing Alstom centres in Paris, Stockholm, Singapore and Montreal.
How the Innovation Stations work
Alstom’s Innovation Stations are spaces where transit agencies, cities, universities, technology centres, start-ups and industry partners can collaborate. The company says they identify promising local ideas and partnerships, speed up the development of new solutions and give partners a platform to test and incubate concepts with potential beyond their home market.
The US station follows a “local for global” approach. It will focus on mobility solutions that improve accessibility, sustainability, resilience and passenger experience.
Alstom pointed to two recent examples of what the stations can produce. At InnoTrans in Berlin last month, it demonstrated a system developed with Deutsche Bahn to operate trains remotely from a control centre. It is also showing AI Talk to My Train, a tool that lets maintenance and operations technicians troubleshoot and resolve rail vehicle issues using plain-language commands. An interactive version appeared at InnoTrans and at APTA EXPO in Chicago this week.
Michael Keroullé, President of Alstom Americas, said: “To solve today’s mobility challenges we need to bring together the best ideas across sectors, disciplines, and communities.”
He added: “Building on what we’ve learned from our stations elsewhere in the world, this new hub will allow us to work side by side with the U.S. transportation sector’s leading thinkers and innovators, including our own people, to advance real solutions and sustainable economic growth.”
To solve today’s mobility challenges we need to bring together the best ideas across sectors, disciplines, and communities.”
Experience of the station’s director
Ricks was most recently a partner at the urban strategy consultancy Cityfi. Her earlier roles include Associate Administrator for Innovation at the Federal Transit Administration, founding Director of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, and Director of Transportation Planning for Washington, D.C.
She has led Universal Basic Mobility pilots, integrated mobility payment systems and MovePGH, which Alstom describes as the nation’s first Mobility as a Service system.
“Innovation happens when governments, communities, and industry come together around shared challenges,” Ricks said.
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