Exhibiting for the first time at the TRAKO international railway fair on the British Pavilion in Gdansk, Poland, Birmingham Centre for Rail Research and Education (BCRRE) and Rail Alliance signal their growing commitment to forging and developing business relationships in the region and surrounding areas.
Building on existing links with universities, railway operators and managers, and research and testing facilities is a strategic focus for BCRRE and one that has already seen successful collaboration agreements recently signed in Serbia with the University of Belgrade and the Rail Cluster for South-East Europe. TRAKO has provided BCRRE with the opportunity to kick-start new strategic relationships with railway organisations from Saxony, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Ukraine and Turkey.
In tandem with its Rail Alliance activity - a founding member of the European Rail Clusters Initiative (ERCI) - BCRRE has been well-placed at TRAKO to exploit world-leading railway research, education and innovation capabilities to initiate a number of exciting new opportunities to work with a number of new partners across Central, South and East Europe.
Alex Burrows, Managing Director at BCRRE and Rail Alliance explained, “BCRRE is recognised as one of the world’s leading specialist railway research, education and innovation centres. With investment increasing in developing rail networks across the region the opportunity to join the UK delegation and be physically present to exhibit at TRAKO and meet potential collaborators was an obvious decision.
“I am really pleased with the interest we have had from both exhibitors and visitors in our BCRRE activities and the work the Rail Alliance is doing, along with the potential opportunities that have come from TRAKO so far. We were delighted to welcome Chris Heaton-Harris MP, the new Rail Minister at the Department for Transport, onto our stand on Tuesday. It was a great chance to tell him about the leading global role of the University of Birmingham plays in railway research, education and innovation.”
Now in its 13th year, TRAKO has established itself as one of the largest, most prestigious rail industry events in Europe and attracts an international audience both visiting and exhibiting here in Poland.