Brexit can be turned to rail’s advantage
Insecurity surrounding Brexit and its effect on rail engineering needs to be put into context, says DAVID WRIGHT, chief of Coventry University’s National Transport Design Centre. He urges engineers to see our exit from the EU not as an inevitable disaster
Like most of us, I didn’t expect Theresa May to announce a snap election for June 8. Similarly, I was one of the many who didn’t expect the Brexit vote to go the way it did. To misquote Monty Python: “No one expected this Brexit situation!”
But here we are, and there’s not much we can do to change the political direction of travel that will lead to us leaving the EU. The rail industry can either moan about the unexpected outcome or it can take a more pragmatic approach to the impending divorce - exploring the emerging competitive landscape to see how it can be turned to our favour.
This is certainly the case where the UK rail sector is concerned. Given the inevitable change in our relationship with Europe, top transport design institutions need to consider their unique position as a ‘talent gateway’ into the UK’s vibrant engineering sector.
While employers in the rail, automotive and engineering sectors are understandably lobbying the Government’s Brexit team for some kind of exemption on skilled workers entering the UK from EU countries, universities are faced with an even more complex challenge.
Unlike manufacturers that rely on highly skilled engineers to maintain productivity, universities inhabit a unique position in the economy as both employers of skilled people and (crucially) generators of creativity and innovation.
It’s the latter point that is so important right now. And while it might sound like an esoteric link between universities and the competitiveness of the UK rail industry, there is a crucial relationship at play here that could have a big impact on UK plc.
Think about it. Here we stand on the edge of one of the most important trade block negotiations in our country’s history. Juxtapose this with the emerging Industrial Strategy about to be published this summer, and the need for a viable, intellectual ‘feedstock’ is obvious.
This intangible capital is what will drive the UK’s industrial design capability for future decades, creating a vital foundation on which engineering excellence will be delivered. It’s that flow of creative rail engineers that will help us to maintain our positon as a global leader in terms of transport design.
While the likes of Bombardier, Hitachi and Knorr Bremse are well-known names in the UK rail sector, we have to remember the significant number of other suppliers - largely privately owned business - that help to form the UK’s rolling stock industry. Granted, the size and ownership structures of the ‘big boys’ compared with the myriad suppliers that support them could not be more different, but one thing that does keep all rail manufacturers awake at night is the shortage of skilled engineers.
I can’t talk much about apprenticeships and college courses (not my area of experience), but I do know about transport design at the postgraduate level. And it’s here where I think we have a huge potential.
Take the French and German rail export markets. While they have (one could argue) the ‘unfair’ advantage of Alstom and Siemens on their respective sides, the proportion of their export income from rail activities is remarkable. The French export around a fifth of their products overseas, and the Germans ship over half of their rail manufacturing to global markets. The UK, meanwhile, lags way behind, exporting a mere tenth of our rail products.
However, far from seeing that as a negative, I see it as a real opportunity for the UK’s rail engineering industry. Given the recent boost to revenues, skills and experience afforded by Crossrail, we are surely in an ideal position to exploit new emerging rail markets in regions such as Asia, the Middle East and South America.
And the UK’s strong heritage in worldclass design surely puts us at the forefront of tomorrow’s rail transport sector. Inspired by the UK’s pioneering work in the areas of user-centred design, we should be taking up a global leadership position when it comes to the design of rolling stock.
We do actually have the knowledge, the skills and the technology to do this kind of ground-breaking design much better than many of our competitors in other countries.
We can apply science to issues such as luggage storage, seating and table design. And we can capture meaningful, reliable data from techniques such as bio-mechanical modelling and comfort mapping, to make objective option comparisons.
That way, getting into and out of a comfortable seat in an attractive, relaxing environment should be easier.
Indeed, students at the NTDC are currently engaged in a research project looking at manual handling in a dynamic passenger rail environment.
We also recognise that the train operators are users, too, so designs for maintenance and cleaning are also factors that need to be considered. So is the question of re-configurability, the ability to change the layout of a carriage according to its routeing, its usage (inter-city vs commuting) and even the time of day.
Without the more creative, innovative minds able to develop new designs for tomorrow’s cars, trains, planes and ships, our global competitive position will be dramatically reduced. That is why we need to ensure our educational institutions continue to attract and retain aspiring design engineers from across the globe.
Far from being uncertain about the future of our engineering design capital, the UK is in a strong position - one that we need to protect and grow at all costs. Certainly, initial signs from MPs are encouraging in
We need to ensure our educational institutions continue to attract and retain aspiring design engineers from across the globe.
this regard, given the fact that the Education Select Committee wants urgent steps taken to end uncertainty over the future status of EU academics.
This sensible approach also extends to the treatment of overseas students, whom I believe should be taken out of migration figures. Indeed, committee chairman Neil Carmichael hits the nail on the head when he says that Brexit risks damaging universities’ international competitiveness.
Clearly, engineering students’ right to work and stay in the UK should be given unilaterally before the end of this year, assuming there is no reciprocal deal with other EU countries.
Given the recent recommendations by MPs on this matter, furrowed brows and worried expressions among both engineering lecturers and students in the UK should become far less widespread as the Government position in this area solidifies.
While UK plc’s intellectual design capital is difficult to measure in financial terms, its strategic value cannot be underestimated. As many of our overseas competitors will admit, it’s the UK’s unique ability to design trains, planes, automobiles and ships that set the benchmark for quality and performance in their respective markets.
We must never forget that fact - especially as we fight to keep on track with the Brexit negotiations.