The University of Huddersfield’s Institute of Railway Research and DB Cargo UK have formed a new partnership to deliver a pipeline of innovation for the rail freight industry.
The partnership will see the University’s Institute of Railway Research (IRR) join forces with DB Cargo UK to deliver the innovation pipeline, supported by one of the IRR’s latest projects, the ERDF LCR Smart Rolling Stock Maintenance Research Facility (SRSMRF).
This will allow the University of Huddersfield and DB Cargo UK to advance the industrial application of fundamental research and innovation, through the utilisation of the University’s R&D capabilities in rail.
The project will initially focus on research to improve the efficiency of freight wagon and locomotive maintenance by working with the SRSMRF’s academics and a range of industry partners across the rail supply chain.
The collaboration was established by the University of Huddersfield’s Prof Paul Allen and DB Cargo UK’s Chief Transformation and Digitalisation Officer, Marie Hill.
Prof Allen, who is Assistant Director of the IRR, said the Institute is delighted to be working with DB Cargo UK who have made “an enormous investment in the future of the UK’s freight railways”.
“This collaboration is the beginning of a long-term alliance, strengthening the connections between academia and industry and producing products and services that will be of real benefit to the industry as a whole,” he added.
Principal Investigator of the SRSMRF, Prof Gareth Tucker, asaid: “We are looking forward to working with DB Cargo to identify methods to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of wagon and locomotive maintenance using our facilities and expertise in robotics and automation, remote condition monitoring and operations management.”
DB Cargo UK’s Marie Hill said: “We are proud to be deepening our relationship with the University of Huddersfield, which since the launch of UKRRIN (UK Rail Research Innovation Network) has gone from strength to strength”