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University of Birmingham agree to collaborate with Global Centre for Rail Excellence

A new agreement will see railway expertise from academia, government and industry driving forward rail innovation at a world class rail testing centre in Wales.

21 September 2022•3 min read
Clive Roberts of the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education and Simon Jones of the Global Centre for Rail Excellence

The University of Birmingham’s Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) and the Global Centre for Rail Excellence (GCRE) have today [21 September 2022] signed an agreement to partner on R&D and innovation activities on the site of the Welsh test centre which is due to open in 2024.

The Global Centre for Rail Excellence was set up by the Welsh Government to establish the facility, in Neath Port Talbot. It aims to offer a ‘one stop shop’ for railway innovation from R&D, through testing and verification, to applied innovation on the mainline passenger and freight rail systems.

BCRRE is the largest specialist railway research, education and innovation centre in Europe and was selected by the Welsh Government to lead the development of a Centre of Excellence for Railway Testing and Validation. This Centre will sit alongside the new 6.9km test track that is being built at the head of the Dulais and Tawe valleys.

The agreement was announced by Professor Clive Roberts (BCRRE Director) and Simon Jones (CEO of the Global Centre for Rail Excellence) at InnoTrans 2022, the leading international trade fair for transport technology, held every two years in Berlin.

We are looking forward to bringing our industry links and rail expertise together with those of the GCRE. Together we will create a facility that can deliver world class innovation to the sector.

Professor Clive Roberts, Director of the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education

Working alongside several Welsh universities, including Cardiff and Swansea, BCRRE will establish a R&D centre that will undertake industry-focused research and innovation activities. By locating at the facility, BCRRE will be able to provide strategic and technical support to industry R&D activities taking place at the test centre.

Professor Clive Roberts, BCRRE Director, said: “Collaboration and partnership are key to success in rail innovation and we are looking forward to bringing our industry links and rail expertise together with those of the GCRE. Together we will create a facility that can deliver world class innovation to the sector.”

Simon Jones, Chief Executive of GCRE said: “Our partnership with the University of Birmingham, the wider UKRRIN family and our local universities here in Wales mean that GCRE and our clients will benefit from some of the UK’s leading research minds, and how their research and innovation is applied and validated. Having a substantial UKRRIN testing and validation team permanently based at GCRE immediately boosts our credentials and is a powerful indicator of how we want GCRE to develop for the benefit of the UK’s railway industry.

“BCRRE is central to this partnership, and will provide us with strategic and technical support as we focus on creating a flexible and open-market rail technology proving ground that helps to accelerate innovation on the journey to net-zero, cost reduction through application of innovation and improved customer services.”

Notes for editors

  • For media enquiries please contact:
    - University of Birmingham / BCRRE - Beck Lockwood, Press Office, University of Birmingham, tel: +44 (0)7813 343348.
    - GCRE - Lisa Jenkins tel: +44 (0) 790 873 8763.
  • The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 6,500 international students from over 150 countries.
  • BCRRE is the largest specialist railway research, education and innovation centre in Europe with over 170 researchers and professional services staff. 
  • GCRE is a major infrastructure project that will provide state-of-the-art rolling stock testing, infrastructure testing and storage and maintenance for the UK and international rail industry. Currently a wholly owned subsidiary of the Welsh Government (SPV), GCRE was established in 2021 with an initial commitment of £50 million. The UK Government is expected to confirm a further £8 million for research and development along with capital funding of £20 million. An investment prospectus to attract private funding for the project is also in development ready for launch in the autumn of 2022.

    Spanning the former Nant Helen opencast site and Onllwyn Washery in Neath Port Talbot and Powys, South Wales, it will feature the UK’s first net zero railway and become the ‘one stop shop’ for railway innovation, from research and development, through testing, verification and certification, to applied innovation on mainline passenger and freight railways. The facility will include two 25KV electrified test loops, one being a 6.9km high speed rolling stock track with a maximum speed of around 180km/h and the other a 4km ~60km/h test track. Other facilities will include a dual-platform test environment, rolling stock storage and maintenance facilities, operations and control offices, staff accommodation, shunting staff facilities and connections to the nearby main line. There will also be state of the art secure testing environments; equipment, systems and communications development facilities. Education, training, visitor and conference facilities and an industrial development zone are all envisaged in the wider site.

Featured staff

  • Professor Clive Roberts

    Professor of Railway Systems

    Staff profile for Clive Roberts, Professor of Railway Systems at the University of Birmingham.

    Phone: +44 (0) 121 414 4306
    Email: c.roberts.20@bham.ac.uk

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