RAIL INNOVATIONS
Rail I
Innovations
The Rail Innovations 2012 conference highlighted exciting new opportunities in research and development; Kate Ashley reports.
nnovation is vital to improvement across the rail industry, yet risk can hold back investment for such research.
RTM attended the fourth Rail Innovations conference, held at the University of Birmingham on September 12, to find out more about current and prospective research projects, as well as their impact on the industry and available funding streams.
Speakers included Steve Yianni, technical director at Network Rail; Professor Chris Baker from the University of Birmingham; David Clarke, deputy director, rail technical at the DfT; Daniel Ruiz, project manager for the Transport Systems Catapult at the Technology Strategy Board; and Professor Andy Doherty from Network Rail.
University researchers from Birmingham, Sheffield, Nottingham and Southampton shared their individual areas of research, and a keynote address was given by Peter Chivers, chief executive at the National Composites Centre, on the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) catapult.
The event included a tour of the University of Birmingham’s laboratories, where their rail research is carried out, and a chance to see the hydrogen-powered loco a team of graduates built for the IMechE’s Railway Challenge this summer (see the August/September 2012 edition of RTM for more).
The innovation gap
Clarke introduced the new enabling innovation team (EIT), which aims to identify the innovation gap, improve capacity and the customer experience, and reduce carbon and costs.
The TSLG is addressing this gap by identifying barriers to innovation, such as a lack of cross- system thinking, working across organisation boundaries, risk aversion in the industry and a need for structure and leadership to
18 | rail technology magazine Oct/Nov 12 encourage innovation.
An innovation fund has been created and will launch from October/November this year, with pilot funding of £16.6m for 2012/13. The EIT has industry backing from the Rail Delivery Group, TSLG and RSSB to de-risk innovation by linking solutions to challenges and looking beyond the rail sector for innovation.
The fund is now open for expressions of interest for projects that have a benefit to the GB railway and can benefit the economy – for more information see www.futurerailway. org/pages/
RailInnovationTeam.aspx
Transport systems catapult
Ruiz described the new Transport Systems Catapult (TSC), intended to bridge the innovation gap at the higher level. The TSC will provide a centre for excellence which brings together organisations and breaks down barriers, to improve transport across the UK, he said.
It will provide a testbed for solutions that can then be taken abroad, he explained, and highlighted how technology and processes can enable efficient movement of people and goods.
The TSC has a multiple role to think, stimulate, lead organisations and facilitate, establish, grow and adapt multimodal partnerships. The catapult is due to launch next year and will strive to establish an international reputation by publishing white papers, taking data through to intelligence, add value and ramp up projects, Ruiz added. It will be “the go- to place for mobility”, and key to enhancing existing centres of excellence.
The initial focus of the TSC will be on the following four areas: data and the national transport systems model, capacity and positioning, healthy vehicles and healthy infrastructure, and inter-connected systems.
2012
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