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 […]
The UK Rail Research Innovation Network (UKRRIN) Data Platform has been launched by the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) that will create the largest single source of data, both historic and real-time, covering railway operations in the UK and internationally. This will provide researchers and innovators with a significant new opportunity to develop digital solutions that […]
The University of Birmingham and Siemens Mobility Limited have announced a new, academic framework research collaboration, deepening the relationship between the two organisations. This collaboration will allow the University of Birmingham and Siemens Mobility to advance the industrial application of fundamental academic research, whilst furthering the University’s R&D capabilities. The first stage of this collaboration will […]
Researchers and engineers at IRR at the University of Huddersfield whose mission is to future-proof the rail network by making innovations in track, rolling stock and safety has won one of the most coveted honours in Higher Education, awarded after scrutiny by the Prime Minister and approval from Her Majesty The Queen. At a special […]
The UK Government last week gave the go-ahead to the HS2 project which will provide high speed links between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. We recently published a blog series looking at the opportunities HS2 will provide, and highlighting from a research perspective, the work being carried out by UKRRIN members helping to ensure the […]
