Future focus
Birmingham Centre of Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) is now clearly at the forefront of thought-leadership and technological prowess in the railway domain
BCRRE’s thought leadership and technological prowess.
It’s been almost a year since the official launch of the UK Railway Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) at the Houses of Parliament on February 20 2018. Designed to create a powerful collaboration between academia and industry, UKRRIN brings together eight universities with 15 industry partners in order to drive innovation and initiate a systems-wide approach to enhancing the railway.
These universities have joined forces and combined their resources to form three Centres of Excellence - in Digital Systems (University of Birmingham), Rolling Stock (University of Huddersfield, Newcastle University and Loughborough University) and Infrastructure (University of Nottingham, University of Southampton, Loughborough University, University of Sheffield and HeriotWatt University).
Meanwhile, a fourth Centre of Excellence has been created with a focus on Testing, which incorporates facilities at Network Rail’s Rail Innovation & Development Centres (RIDC) at Melton Mowbray (Leicestershire) and Tuxford (Nottinghamshire), and those of other key partners Transport for London and the Quinton Rail Technology Centre.
The four Centres of Excellence are currently benefiting from more than £ 90 million of investment in developing their research facilities, comprising £ 28.1m awarded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and £ 64m from industry. All sites are due to be completed by 2020.
These world-leading facilities will be open to UKRRIN industry members from the railway supply chain so that research and development concepts and new technologies can be brought more quickly from the early design stage to full commercialisation.
In turn, university researchers and students will have improved access to industry experts and real-life projects, helping to expand their skill sets and augment their employability.
It is hoped that this link-up will not only boost innovation, productivity and the export strength of the UK rail sector, but also make the industry a more attractive place for the next generation of talent to base their skills.
At the heart of UKRRIN is its lead partner Birmingham Centre of Railway Research and Education (BCRRE), which is also home to the network’s Centre of Excellence in Digital Systems (CEDS).
Based at the University of Birmingham and led by Professor Clive Roberts, the CEDS at BCRRE specialises in four focus areas: Future Railway Operations and Control; Data Integration and Cyber Security; Remote Monitoring and Autonomous Systems; and Introducing Innovation.
Other BCRRE research extends across
These will be facilities for all, not just BCRRE. Professor Clive Roberts, Head of BCRRE
themes including: aerodynamics; weather and climate effects; geotechnical engineering and asset management; infrastructure and structural engineering; computational design; mechatronic and control systems; power electronics and drives; energy and power systems; and international benchmarking.
As the largest university-based centre for railway research and education in Europe, its pioneering research activities and multidisciplinary expertise have earned it an enviable reputation across the world for thought leadership and advanced problem solving.
Formed in the 1970s, BCRRE has now grown to cater for more than 140 people with a major research interest in railway science and technology, including 21 academic staff, 22 post-doctoral researchers, around 90 research students, international visiting researchers and honorary academics, plus 20 non-academic professional staff.
There are also 340 postgraduate students undertaking courses at the centre, and undergraduates enrolled in railway-specific degrees.
Its reputation was further enhanced in November 2017 when BCRRE was awarded a prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education (2016-18) in recognition of its contribution to making railways around the world safer and more efficient.
It has also gained widespread media attention in recent months for its pioneering development of hydrogen train technology in the UK as a low-emission alternative to diesel traction on non-electrified parts of the network.
Students from BCRRE have already built a 10¼in-gauge prototype locomotive (named
Hydrogen Hero) and a team from BCRRE is currently working with rolling stock owning company Porterbrook to convert a Class 319 electric multiple unit into a hydrogen-powered train, called ‘HydroFlex’.
Delegates at UKRRIN’s inaugural annual conference, held in central London on November 13, heard from Professor Roberts about CEDS’ scheduled opening in mid-2020, and on how procurement has already started for equipment, including train cab simulators, data platforms, 3D visualisation technology, and signalling and communication equipment.
He said: “These will be facilities for all, not just BCRRE. They will help us face a number of grand challenges as an industry in the next few years, including ensuring system-wide cyber security and achieving zero on-site testing for railway equipment.”
As part of its UKRRIN membership, a number of new initiatives are also currently under way at BCRRE, including the hosting of a University Innovation Day by Siemens and two Network Rail engineering conferences and two Digital Railway Delivering Differently events.
It is also leading the DIGI-RAIL business support and demonstrator programme (see panel) to assist more than 100 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to exploit the opportunities created by NR’s Digital Railway programme.