RSSB and Network Rail are funding 15 new projects trialling a new mechanism within the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN).
Launched at the UKRRIN Inspire event in April, this initiative – also referred to as UKRRIN2 – has been designed to build on the successes of UKRRIN in bringing together industry challenges, deep academic expertise, and supply chain capabilities to make a real difference.
RSSB and Network Rail invited proposals addressing a range of tactical and strategic challenges, ranging from overcoming traction power limitations by enhancing reactive current control on rolling stock, to finding non-destructive ways to evaluate stress-free temperature in rails. In responding to these asks, UKRRIN universities were asked to collaborate with UKRRIN industrial members and beyond. An impressive range of proposals were received and 15 awarded funding, with mobilisation of these projects now underway ahead of a November start.
Luisa Moisio, Director of Research, RSSB said:
“This is an important step in the evolution of UKRRIN. Naturally, research is inherently exploratory, and not every finding progresses to industry adoption. Working jointly with Network Rail and the UKRRIn community, we want to raise these odds. This is building on the impact UKRRIN has made to date and bringing public funders together to agree on the most important challenges and opportunities that academic-led research needs to address. This research will draw on the deep expertise and fresh thinking within UKRRIN’s world-class universities and involve UKRRIN industrial members from the outset, so the supply chain is ready to pick up the baton in their solutions. The quality of proposals received, and the level of industry funding and support secured by the successful projects is truly encouraging.”
Phil Doughty, Chief Technology Officer, Network Rail said:
” We are delighted to continue our partnership with UKRRIN through this pilot programme for UKRRIN2. Working closely with RSSB, universities and industry partners, we will explore new ways to address some of the rail sectors’s most important challenges. By bringing together leading academic expertise and the experience of railway colleagues, the programme will unlock fresh thinking across 15 projects spanning Electric Traction Power, Vehicle and Track, and Communication and Positioning. We look forward to the opportunities this collaboration will create, the insights it will provide, and the role it can play in shaping future innovation and benefits for the railway and its customers.”
Nine universities have been awarded funding with strong support and in-kind contribution from a range of suppliers and rail industry partners. Projects are due to start from November and have been awarded as follows:
Electric traction power
- Leading power factor control for next-generation AC railway electrification systems:
This project will develop and validate control architectures and study strategies to improve voltage stability.
Led by the University of Birmingham in collaboration with Navitas Engineering, with industry support from Alstom.
- Mitigating power limitations by enhancing the reactive current control to optimised voltage distribution along the catenary:
This project aims to improve power system performance and stability by assessing how reactive power support from trains and trackside equipment can help address voltage and power supply constraints.
Led by the University of Nottingham, with industry support from Hitachi Rail, L.C. Switchgear Ltd and DB ESG.
- Reliable and rapid passive pantograph control for optimised power changeover:
This project aims to develop novel pantograph architecture to enable reliable and rapid dynamic power changeover.
Led by the University of Huddersfield in collaboration with University of Bristol and Foster Technology, with industry support from Wabtec.
- A comparison framework for rail battery traction modelling:
This project aims to resolve two core technical challenges around software standardisation and whole-system route evaluation.
Led by the University of Hull and Cranfield University in collaboration with University of Hull, Aether Limited and Carrickarory Consulting; with industry support from Transport for Wales, Porterbrook, Heavy Haul Rail, Railwhere, East West Rail, Angel Trains, and Great Western Railway.
- SafeSky Rail: An evidence-based framework for reducing bird strikes on pantographs and overhead line equipment:
This project aims to examine bird-strike risk assessing how birds perceive and respond to railway infrastructure and patterns in railway-specific hotspots.
Led by the University of Birmingham, with industry support from Network Rail High Speed, Eurostar and Furrer + Frey.
Vehicle and track, and its interaction
- Design of guard rail arrangements to improve efficacy at higher speed:
This project will explore whether the effectiveness of guard rail systems could be extended to higher speeds.
Led by the University of Huddersfield in collaboration with University of Southampton and British Steel
- Ride comfort assessment and optimisation:
This project aims to review typical track geometry and contact conditions for a range of GB mainline routes and develop a process which will tune vehicle suspension parameters to achieve target ride comfort.
Led by the University of Huddersfield in collaboration with University of Bristol, University of Birmingham and Foster Technology, with industry support from MoniRail, AtkinsRéalis, Hitachi Rail and Eurostar.
- Early warning methods for fatigue related rail squat defects:
This project will focus on plain-line squats and develop an early-warning framework to forecast squat occurrence across multiple severity categories, supporting the prediction of squat occurrence before defects are detectable and prediction of how squat occurrence rates evolve between categories once they are already present.
Led by the University of Huddersfield in collaboration with University of Birmingham, with industry support from MoniRail, Eurostar, Eurotunnel, and Network Rail East Coast.
- Advanced monitoring and analytics to extend crossing life:
This project will develop a tablet/phone based Augmented Reality (AR) app that allows welding engineers to quickly visualise the location and depth of repairs required to restore a crossing to an optimum profile.
Led by the University of Leeds in collaboration with University of Huddersfield, with industry support from Network Rail, Progress Rail, Vossloh, RailSense and MoniRail.
- Optimising rail profile treatment with efficient deployment of rail grinding and milling systems:
Using a data-driven approach, this project aims to create a decision support dashboard / gauge that helps to prioritise milling / grinding interventions based on need, expected benefit and the availability of plan capacity across the network.
Led by the University of Sheffield in collaboration with University of Huddersfield, with industry support from Plasser & Theurer and British Steel.
- New approaches for management of stress-free temperatures and buckling:
This project aims to investigate the measurement of stress-free temperature and inform the monitoring of buckling risk, determining whether it is feasible to do so with simple tools/devices operated by a track inspector, or using data streams supplied by measurement trains.
Led by University of Southampton, with industry support from Network Rail System Operator, Southern Region and Technical Authority.
- Mechanics and root causes of ballast settlement leading to track quality degradation:
This project will investigate the causes of ballast settlement, develop methods to predict where it is likely to occur, and identify practical ways to reduce its impact on track performance and maintenance requirements.
Led by University of Southampton in collaboration with University of Huddersfield, with industry support from RailSense.
Communications and positioning
- MapFrag – Maximising the applications of FRMCS across GB Rail:
This project aims to quantify what the GB FRMCS spectrum can carry and define practical data management strategies to maximise service quality and protect safety-critical train control.
Led by the University of Birmingham, with industry support from Siemens Mobility Ltd and Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd.
- Resilient management of FRMCS obsolescence:
The project aims to develop a set of requirements and practical recommendations for a proactive lifecycle management framework for FRMCS, ensuring long-term maintainability, upgradeability, and cost-effective obsolescence management from the outset.
Led by the University of Nottingham, with industry support from Network Rail Route Services, Network Rail Technical Authority, London St Pancras Highspeed, FirstGroup PLC, Great Western Railway, Hitachi Rail GTS and Siemens Mobility Rail Infrastructure.
- COMPASS: Continuous Multi-modal Positioning Assessment for Safety Systems:
This project aims to develop a practical assessment method for high-integrity positioning systems used in track worker and on-track plant safety.
Led by the University of Birmingham, with industry support from Network Rail Eastern Region, Machines-With-Vision and Onwave.
The recently enhanced UKRRIN2 Hub and the contractual mechanisms put in place for this new phase of UKRRIN can support other organisations (private and public) looking to commission academic-led research. If your organisation would like to understand how to engage, please contact the UKRRIN Hub team: ukrrin@rssb.co.uk