Have a Ferry Merry Christmas and help a local charity at the same time

FREE mince pies and Christmas carols will be served up on the world famous Mersey Ferries to raise funds for a local charity.

Staff and crew have been fundraising for the last 5 years in partnership with The Wirral Foodbank, a charity providing emergency food to local people in crisis since November 2011.

This year the team is hoping to make it their biggest fundraiser yet and throughout December will be:- 'decked out' in special jumpers sporting the Ferry Christmas logo.

On Thursday, Mersey Ferries staff will treat passengers to complimentary mince pies and festive cheer while AM Theatrical Productions choir performs festive favourites from 5pm onwards to help raise money.

Cllr Steve Foulkes, Chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Committee, said:- "While the festive period is filled with joy and excitement for many, it can be a difficult time of year for others and it's great to see our staff go out of their way to give something back to the community, it really encapsulates the spirit of our Region. I'd encourage everyone to come down and take our:- 'Festive Ferry' cross the Mersey and help support such a worthy cause, whilst enjoying some mince pies and Christmas classics!"

Collection buckets are located at Pier Head and Seacombe Ferry terminals and on the ferry. Food donations can also be taken to the Seacombe Office.

From turbines to train delay prediction, tech start ups showcase innovative solutions to the rail industry

FROM capturing energy created by passing trains, to technology that could potentially predict delays, 9 technology start-ups have shared innovative ideas with rail industry leaders at Future Labs EXPO.

Hosted by technology journalist and presenter, Lara Lewington, a packed audience of rail experts learnt about cutting-edge solutions developed by the start ups through an intensive 12 week accelerator programme.

Selected from nearly 500 applicants, the nine finalists received unique industry insight from experts from the four publicly owned, DFTO (DfT Operator Limited) train companies, LNER, Southeastern, Northern and TransPennine Express. This mentorship enabled the start-ups to design, test and develop ideas based around key challenge areas of enhancing customer experience, improving performance and operational excellence and developing people and talent.

There was special recognition for two of the finalists at Future Labs EXPO.

PotentialU, which developed a digital solution designed to help frontline leaders understand the strengths and areas for improvement of their teams received a Collaboration Award and Treeva, which develops solutions to capture renewable energy from turbulent airflow won an audience vote to be named as:- 'People's Choice.'

Richard Harrison, Chief Financial Officer of DFTO, said:- "Future Labs is a great example of how operators are working together to drive forward innovation to improve performance and provide a better experience for customers. Our railways play a vital role in supporting the UK's economy. I'm delighted this programme has been able to support nine start-up firms and I've been inspired by the wide range of work delivered over the past 12 weeks."

Daniel Saunders, chief executive of L Marks, which facilitated the programme, said:- "LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express, and Southeastern worked closely together and with the start ups and scale-ups enabling them to test the cutting-edge technologies that may develop their people, leverage renewable energy, enhance operations, and deliver better customer experiences. At L Marks, we've been proud to serve as the innovation partner for this transformative initiative."

The 9 finalists were:-

1. Chata.ai's solution enables organisations to harness their data through proactive self-service analytics, allowing users to access real-time insights by asking simple questions.

2. Cleancore Intelligence offers a solution for tracking cleaning compliance and footfall that removes manual record-keeping by highlighting where cleaning is needed.

3. 1Huddle is a recruitment, engagement and development platform that uses games to train up, onboard, and attract talent. Games range from one to two minutes with high-impact games that can be played anytime, anywhere, on the go. Managers can build games quickly and staff can get rewarded.

4. iqast provides fully automatic forecasting solution with Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. It can be adapted to a company's unique needs and can work independently, avoiding the need to integrate within the company's infrastructure.

5. Cognition24 offers a mobile app designed for individuals with Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and other hidden disabilities. The technology gives real-time travel information in an accessible format before leaving home, at the station, and onboard. It provides information such as finding the quietest coach and receiving announcement messages, even while wearing noise-cancelling headphones.

6. Zing Data has developed a platform offering Artificial Intelligence powered, business intelligence and visual data analytics solutions. It offers natural language querying that can figure out complex calculations and relationships automatically.

7. Treeva offers a solution which captures renewable energy from the turbulent airflow of passing transport. The modular design is easy to install and maintain on the side of roads or railways and makes use of readily available land and could power infrastructure to support net-zero transport systems.

8. PotentialU offers a solution designed to help frontline leaders get an understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement of their teams. It provides insights and helps leaders engage more effectively with their teams.

9. Moonbility is a digital twin company, specialising in predicting and simulating asset failures in the transport sector, helping companies to plan and mitigate any possible impacts.