A new purpose-built centre designed to deliver specialist research in digital railway engineering has been opened at the University of Birmingham. The Centre of Excellence for Digital Systems showcases successful collaboration between academia and industry, as the university has partnered with the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) to commission the facility, with £16.4m […]
PRESS RELEASE: 13 October 2020 The Rail industry is committed to prioritising innovation to meet present and future challenges. Britain’s railway must increase the speed that research, and innovation is conducted and put into action to improve performance and reduce costs. This will be vital to attract customers back to the railway in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The requirement to invest in forward–looking technical solutions from development to successful deployment is more prominent now than ever before. Senior rail leaders from across the industry have reaffirmed their commitment for the shift needed in innovation set out in this latest […]
The first ever hydrogen powered train has run on the UK mainline as part of a project being delivered in partnership with the University of Birmingham – signalling a major step forward towards the UK’s net zero targets. The trials of the train, known as HydroFLEX , which have been supported with a £750,000 grant from the […]
The UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) is set to expand its core capabilities with a new immersive Centre of Excellence focused on Inclusive Passenger Experience (IPEC). The UKRRIN IPEC will provide a physical space for the development and testing of innovations across four thematic areas of: Inclusive design, passenger digital connectivity, passenger experience […]
UKRRIN are one of the strategic partners of the Railway Industry Association’s highly renowned Unlocking Innovation programme. The Programme aims to creating a platform for cross industry collaboration with an emphasis on the creation and showcasing of new ideas, through a series of events. On the week commencing 29 July, the Unlocking Innovation programme with […]
The UK’s first hydrogen-powered train (HydroFLEX) is moving closer to commercial operation after the University of Birmingham has been awarded new funding by the Department for Transport. The grant, worth £400,000, is part of InnovateUK’s First of a Kind (FOAK) Programme. It will enable the HydroFLEX development team at the University of Birmingham and industry partners Porterbrook to develop the detailed final […]
On 16 March, the Prime Minister, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer held a press conference to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The Prime Minister asked for people to work from home, avoid unnecessary travel and social gatherings, especially in the London area. This was reinforced in his statement on 23 March which introduced stricter […]
Decarbonising our railways – where are we and what do we need to do next? David Clarke, Technical Director, Railway Industry Association Climate change increasingly dominates our news agenda – and for the rail industry, there is much discussion about how we best decarbonise the network. So what’s the current state of play for the […]
The University of Birmingham’s Transient Aerodynamic Investigation (TRAIN) facility, based in Derby’s Rail Technology Centre (RTC) business park, has reopened following a £1.5 million renovation and upgrade. The TRAIN rig is a unique facility which allows researchers to examine the aerodynamic effects created by moving vehicles and the impact on their surroundings. It is part […]
Our second blog series is focussed on this question… “how can we decarbonise the railway?”. In February 2018, Jo Johnson, the then Rail Minister, challenged the rail industry to remove diesel-only trains from the network by 2040 and to develop a vision to decarbonise the railways. With the climate emergency finally starting to get the […]
