UK Rail Research and Innovation Network

In a ground breaking partnership between the rail industry and Higher Education, the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) has been launched.

UKRRIN has been established following a successful £28M bid to the Higher Education Funding Council for England to create rail Centres of Excellence, backed by commitment from the rail industry to invest more than £60M in research, development and innovation activities at these Centres over the next ten years.

The partnership will deliver four world-class Centres of Excellence covering rolling stock, infrastructure, digital systems and testing, giving the industry access to purpose-built world leading facilities and skills in a range of areas to support research, development and innovation for new technologies and products.

In order to maintain the UK’s position at the forefront of rail technology, the centres will help deliver new products and technology to the market at an advanced rate, supported by industrial partners, using advanced purpose-built development, simulation and testing facilities.

Key objectives of UKRRIN are:

• Support and build UK rail sector capacity and capability to develop, deliver and deploy new technologies;
• Deliver a step change investment in rail innovation through a world-leading network of UK- based research and testing centres;
• Radically increase UK rail productivity and performance by delivering transformational innovations and accelerating its uptake;
• Develop new strategic relationships with the small – medium sized enterprise supply chain, rail industry and wider transport sector.

Jo Johnson MP, Rail Minister, says: “We are investing in the biggest modernisation programme of our railways since Victorian times, delivering what passengers want – more frequent trains and quicker and more comfortable journeys.

“In doing so, we are utilising a range of new technologies across the network and Britain is now at the cutting edge of digital signalling, high speed transport and railway infrastructure.

“New centres of excellence, bringing together experts, universities and the wider rail industry will be essential in achieving our ambition to get all diesel-only trains off the track by 2040 as well as delivering the advanced railway network that passengers deserve.”

Professor Clive Roberts, Director of the Birmingham Centre for Rail Research and Education at the University of Birmingham, commented: “UKRRIN gives universities and rail industry partners the opportunity to shape the global future of railways. This launch is the official beginning of an innovative partnership, and we look forward to reinforcing the UK as the world-leading centre of rail innovation.”

Jo Binstead, Head of Innovation at Siemens Rail Systems and Chair of the UKRRIN Steering Group, said: “The launch of UKRRIN marks a ground-breaking partnership for innovation in UK rail and a step change in industrial research investment. By bringing together leading UK universities and industry, we can ensure that developments being made through academic research can be commercialised to deliver transformative changes across our railway network.”

David Clarke, Technical Director of the Railway Industry Association said: “The Railway Industry Association (RIA) is proud to be a key supporter of the establishment of UKRRIN, a new initiative that will bring universities together with the supply chain in a new collaborative partnership, in order to spur innovation in the sector.

“UKRRIN will bring together some of the UK’s leading academics with businesses who work every day on the railway – with the potential of unlocking innovations that could radically change our rail system, to the benefit of passengers and freight services. We look forward to seeing what this powerful partnership can do in driving new thinking over the next ten years.”

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