The initiative was built on the development of three new Centres of Excellence formed by a consortium of universities, in collaboration with existing industry testing and trialling facilities such as Network Rail’s Innovation and Development Centres.

UK Rail Research and Innovation Network has been established to deliver a step change in collaboration between the rail industry, universities, small and medium-sized business (SMEs), and infrastructure owners to deliver innovations. There are plans in place to grow the network, building on the strong foundation of the Centres of Excellence and their partners.