WHILE the rails fall silent here in Swindon this weekend more than 120 of the best hackers in the world will take to trains to try and combat some of the biggest technological fails facing the railway industry.

Over a 48 hour period this weekend 40 of these hackers, designers and innovators will jump on board Great Western Railway services between London, Bristol and Oxford to take part in an on-board hackathon. They have travelled from Sweden, Ireland, China, Italy, Denmark and even Russia to take part in the event.

The event has targeted Silicon Valley like-minded individuals who are interested in solving some of the biggest challenges facing the rail industry. All the teams will build their prototypes over the weekend and present their solution to a panel of judges for the chance to win a once in a lifetime trip to Singapore.

Matthew Golton of GWR said: “Technology has fundamentally changed the way that we travel. Not only distances covered, but in the way we access information about services and in our ability to purchase 'smart' tickets while already on the move.

"As one of the UKs leading transport providers, Great Western Railway is committed to providing innovative solutions to keep people moving, such as our highly regarded social media feeds, our mobile ticketing app and our live passenger information web page.

“That is why support this weekend’s event, bringing together some of the brightest minds in technology and design.”