Go-ahead for university’s £20m rail safety centre

Huddersfield University’s Centre for Rail Innovation can now go ahead following yesterday’s announcement that the Government is providing a crucial £4m from the Regional Growth Fund, which is being matched by the project’s partners.

The overall investment - over £20 million - will take the size of the team at the University’s Institute of Railway Research (IRR) from 12 to 40 research staff.

The money will be used to upgrade existing facilities at Huddersfield, improving office space, computer simulation suites and an advanced testing lab able to handle large vehicle and track components such as bogies.

The Centre for Rail Innovation will be based within the existing IRR and will build on the Institute’s partnership with the Rail Safety and Standards Board, with the support of the National Skills Academy for Rail Engineering and technology partners, Unipart Rail and Omnicom Engineering.

The Institute was formed at the University in 2012 and the most recent grant will see a major expansion of the staff.

Its Director, Professor Simon Iwnicki, expects the new innovation centre to capitalise on the best of the Institute’s research output and embed this within the UK railway industry.

“The research and training carried out by the Centre will contribute to the strategic needs of the railway industry...and will increase the level of innovation in the industry and reduce the barriers to knowledge transfer and reduce industry costs.”

He added: “We are delighted that the Government has agreed to help fund this initiative and I would like to thank all our partners for their support in putting the proposal together.”

The new facility will build upon the world‐class product design and research and development capability of the project partners, to provide industry and academia with training, research and expert services to develop and improve railway engineering - tracks, wheels and so on - in the industry.

Centre for Rail Innovation project manager Dr Paul Allen said the Centre will have a dedicated team comprising academics, researchers, business development staff and administrators.

“This will include all aspects of vehicle design and track construction to increase safety and reliability, reduce asset costs and drive performance improvement of the railway system.

“Priority will be given to assisting regional small and medium enterprises to develop competitive products and services that can be brokered into the railway supply chain, and result in new job creation and up-skilling of the workforce.

Dr Allen said the new facilities would support innovation and safety improvements across the rail industry. A key focus will be the interaction between the railway tracks and the trains, with the overall aim of improving passenger comfort and reducing wear and tear on the tracks.

For the time being, the Centre for Rail Innovation will be based in the existing technology block, which will be improved and expanded in a £1.2m project due to be completed in September. But in the long term, there is the potential for a new-build for the Centre.

“This project is extremely exciting for the University. Since British Rail research disbanded quite a lot of research capability has fallen away. We hope this new centre will recapture some of that and provide advanced research facilities which are a match for those in Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria.”

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