Community of Metros News: Recent Virtual Events

In the past few months, the TSC has continued to share benchmarking insights and strengthen connections across the COMET community through a series of virtual events, providing members with opportunities to learn from one another and exchange experiences.

Study Webinars: We shared the key findings from several recent case studies, including Station Activations, Facilities and Events (April), OCC Best Practices (May), and AI-Driven Customer Experience Improvements in Metros (June). Alongside the study results, members heard spotlight presentations from selected metros that showcased innovative approaches, successful initiatives, and recent improvements in these areas.

MTR Tracy
AI Virtual Service Ambassador at Hong Kong MTR

Virtual General Meeting (July): The second VGM of the year looked at review of key COMET activities in the recent monthly including new interactive tools. We also presented the latest data trends up to June 2026, and members also heard from Metro Rio about benchmarking activities across COMET metros.

Joint COMET-GOAL Webinar: World Cup De-Brief (July): This collaborative webinar brought together members from COMET, GOAL, IBBG and ABBG to reflect on the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from the football World Cup hosted across Canada, the USA, and Mexico in June and July. Ten member organisations participated in a roundtable discussion, sharing their experiences, best practices, and key takeaways from supporting operations during this major international sporting event.

Community of Metros News: COMET 2026 Western Meeting in Newcastle , 2-5 June

The TSC and COMET members had an insightful Western Meeting in Newcastle, bringing together 40 representatives from 18 metros. Over four days, key topics were discussed such as fleet strategy, AI governance and applications, financial performance, real-time operations, and customer-focused station activations through dynamic discussions, roundtables, and member spotlight sessions.

A special thank you to Nexus for hosting us and for the well organised technical visits to the Gosforth Depot and their Learning Centre. These highlighted Nexus’ genuine passion for people including championing inclusivity, wellbeing, and opportunity across the organisation. Their values-led culture clearly empowers teams to innovate, collaborate, and deliver excellent public transport.

Newcastle meeting

Looking ahead, we’re excited to keep the momentum going at our upcoming COMET meetings – sharing insights, challenges, and practical solutions that push our industry forward.

Research: Video Analytics for Safety and Security

In the past two decades, metros around the world have been transforming the way they approach safety and security. One key aspect of that is the use of emerging technologies, such as video analytics. The COMET case study brings together responses from 34 member metros and covers the challenges, solutions, and best practices related to video analytics in metros, including a range of examples of using Artificial Intelligence.

Video analytics have specific impacts on different types of incidents and wider impacts on metro systems. The study reviewed areas where video analytics had reported impacts. 71% of the responding metros reported video analytics to be ‘very effective’ in enhancing their safety and security, and identified future opportunities for further development of video analytics in their systems.

Community of Metros News: COMET 2025 Annual Meeting in Barcelona, 10-13 November

Last week, 30 metro organisations gathered in Barcelona for the COMET 2025 Annual Meeting. Hosted by Barcelona TMB in celebration of the metro’s 100th anniversary, the event showcased their initiatives on system modernisation and automation. Attendees had the opportunity to visit the Operations Control Centre, Central Workshop, Driving Simulators, Historical Train Exhibition, and Automatic Line Workshop.

During the CEO/COO Day, the TSC highlighted five key trends impacting COMET metros in 2025. Metro executives engaged in discussions on infrastructure renewals, ridership and revenue, and environmental development with a particular focus on logistics services.

The breakout sessions on Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in metros sparked discussions and strong interest in the area. Metros shared their experiences with current AI implementations and explored future opportunities to leverage AI across metro operations.

The TSC extends its sincere thanks to all participating metros for their active engagement and valuable contributions throughout the meeting.