Institute of Railway Research (IRR)

Impact statement

The IRR is an internationally recognised centre of excellence in railway research in the field of the interaction between railway vehicles and track. This has resulted in improved understanding of the wheel rail contact and led to the development of a number of tools and techniques which are being used to predict deterioration of railway wheels and rails. This knowledge allows railway engineers to control and optimise maintenance intervals on wheel and track in order to optimise the life-cycle cost of their assets.

The benefits to the railway industry are reduced track maintenance costs, increased safety levels and resistance to derailment and the putting in place of methods that allow modal shift from road to rail and improved charging methods to promote fairer reallocation of costs between vehicle operators and infrastructure managers.

Work on the interaction between vehicles and novel track systems has resulted in a better understanding of the design alternatives to conventional ballasted track, increasing the scientific knowledge base supporting the choice of track systems for future high speed and suburban railways. Shortcomings and failure of existing track systems and fixing mechanisms have also been demonstrated to help infrastructure owner decide on retrofitting actions or future commissioning design specifications.

The IRR has developed extensive expertise in the field of vehicle dynamics, the wheel-rail interface, switches and crossings and asset management within the light rail and metro sectors. It has supported the HMRI and the Office of Rail Regulation in developing standardised wheel-rail profiles and industry guidelines to enhance the safety of UK systems. It has also supported the development of new light-rail and metro systems within the UK and overseas by providing design assurance for all aspects of the wheel-rail interface. The IRR runs industry short courses for UK operators, to widen the understanding of the fundamentals of derailment risk and asset life optimisation.

Mission statement

The Institute of Railway Research (IRR) aims to become a world leading centre of railway engineering research with the following key values:

• Research Excellence – carrying out research into focused and strategically important railway challenges of the future.
• Industrial Impact – supporting the railway industry through the development of innovative tools and solutions to tackle current and emerging engineering requirements. 
• Education – facilitating the education of current and future railway engineers at all stages of their career.
• Visibility – the work of the IRR will be highly visible to stakeholders in the railway industry, in academia and to the wider public. The IRR will have a clear identity within and outside the University both nationally and internationally.
• Financial Sustainability– the IRR will support its activities through external funding from UK and overseas research funders and from Industry partners.

Downloads

Manchester Wheel-Rail Contact Benchmark Files

• Wheel – Rail Contact Benchmark
• Results Submission Form for WRC Benchmark
• S1002 Wheel Profile
• UIC60 Inclined 1:40 Rail Profile

The UK Rail Research Innovation Network (UKRRIN)

UKRRIN (the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network) is a new initiative designed to create a powerful collaboration between academia and industry aimed to provide a step-change in innovation in the sector and accelerate new technologies and products from research into market applications globally. It has established several new centres of excellence: in Rolling Stock (led by the University of Huddersfield); in Infrastructure (led by the University of Southampton) and in Digital Systems (led by the University of Birmingham). Several other Universities are also linked to these to form the overall research network. Some £92m of total funding has been committed to the centres by the UK Government and industry-leading partners. Industry is also providing a fourth Centre of Excellence in testing including Network Rail and London Underground test facilities.

The main objectives of UKRRIN are to act as a conduit and accelerator for development of new products, services and technologies from across the industry to market; to promote the excellence and capability of the centres and develop an international reputation for delivering innovative solutions to the rail sector; to be a catapult for SMEs to work with partners to deliver to market new technologies, products and services and to support the supply base and rail companies to develop and export products designed and manufactured in the UK to wider worldwide markets

Supported by the UK Government and key industry bodies, including the Rail Supply Group (RSG) and Rail Delivery Group (RDG) UKRRIN is recognised as being critical to the delivery of the rail sector’s industrial strategy for growth and long-term success, enabled through world-class science and innovation. UKRRIN will offer industry access to purpose-built world-leading facilities and skills in a range of areas to support the research and development of new technologies and products. The centres of excellence will be supported with industrial partners to deliver world-leading research from inception to market application for both the UK and global markets. One of the key aims to be provided by centres of excellence will be the ability to deliver new products and technology faster to market using advanced purpose-built simulation and testing facilities. The centres will also help the UK maintain its position as a technology leader in rail on the world stage.