The University of Birmingham and Siemens Mobility have been awarded £15 million by the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) to establish a new world-leading railway research and innovation centre in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire.
The new Centre of Excellence for Railway Through-Life Engineering will be located next to the Rail Accelerator for Innovation Solutions and Enterprise (RaisE) business centre and within the major new Siemens Mobility rail village. The Centre will provide cutting-edge facilities to support the build, service, maintenance, and modernisation of railway rolling stock with a focus on robotics, sensing, and automation.
The Centre is expected to create up to 100 new jobs, as well as providing opportunities for students and researchers from the University of Birmingham and other universities across the UK. It is also expected to attract investment from the rail industry and other partners.
"This is a major investment in the future of the UK railway industry," said Professor Sir David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham. "The new Centre will help to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of railway innovation, and will create new opportunities for businesses and jobs in the region."
Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility said: "We are delighted to be working with the University of Birmingham on this exciting project, the new Centre will help us to develop the next generation of railway technologies, and will support our commitment to making the UK railway network more sustainable and efficient."
The funding for the new Centre is part of a £30 million investment by the UKRPIF in two new world-leading railway research and innovation facilities. The other facility is a new Centre of Excellence for Railway Testing, Validation and Customer Experience in South Wales.
The UKRPIF is a £1 billion fund that is designed to support research and innovation in the UK. The fund is managed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the UK's national science and research funding agency.
Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, chief Executive of UKRI said: "The UKRPIF is helping to drive innovation in key sectors of the UK economy.
"The new Centres of Excellence for Railway Research and Innovation will help to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of railway technology, and will create new opportunities for businesses and jobs in the UK."
The new Centres of Excellence for Railway Research and Innovation are expected to open in 2024.
Photo: Istock/Siemens/University of Birmingham
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