Priority Area Lead: Professor Clive Roberts, Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, c.roberts.20@bham.ac.uk
Birmingham has the largest railway research group in Europe. In Transport Engineering, the University is keen to develop research that complements existing work in public transport (traffic management for railways and metros) and urban planning (focusing on walking and cycling).
The Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education at the University of Birmingham currently undertakes significant research in the area of Railway Systems Engineering and is the largest railway research group in Europe. The group currently undertakes research with collaborators from over 20 countries worldwide. The group holds a large number of EPSRC, EC FP7 and industry funded grants cover a range of transport and railway specific research areas. For example, the Centre are leading a number of key work areas in the EC FP7 ON-TIME project that is developing new methods to increase railway capacity by reducing delays and improving traffic fluidity. The group have also recently initiated a large £1.65m Strategic Partnership with Network Rail in the area of Data Management and Integration.
Work in the area of sustainable transport is supported by a number of collaborative EPSRC projects that are aiming to promote step changes in developing sustainable urban transport and travel. Research interests include: walking and cycling, the nature of long term and large scale change in transport systems and the future design and form of sustainable urban areas.
We are particularly keen to bring together and integrate this existing research, with a particular emphasis in the area of integrated transport. For example, research may focus on inter-transport mode integration (including walking, cycling, bus, tram, metro), cross-mode timetable optimisation, long term integrated transport planning, total transport system design, and data management to support cross mode integration.
Key individuals in this area include: