IRR welcomes Mayor of West Yorkshire on tour of £15m laboratory facilities
The University of Huddersfield’s Institute of Railway Research (IRR) welcomed Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin on a tour of its £15m laboratory facilities, following the creation of a new transport partnership earlier this year.
Experts from the IRR and the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at the University of Leeds, joined forces to create the Centre for Transport in Cities (Centric) in July in what is a strategic alliance with West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA).
An official signing ceremony between representatives from the two universities, the Mayor and representatives from WYCA, took place as the first step in the initiative.
Through Centric, the two universities will support the planning, economics and railway engineering behind West Yorkshire’s Mass Transit proposals while ensuring that leading edge academic expertise in transport will feed into West Yorkshire’s future transport plans.
In addition, they will provide advice around major regional investments in road, rail, bus and active travel, while developing a ‘blueprint’ that can be shared to support urban transport schemes worldwide.
Mayor Tracy Brabin and WYCA Executive Director for Transport, Simon Warburton, were welcomed by Professor Paul Allen, Director of the IRR, and Professor Tim Thornton, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University, along with IRR Associate Director, Professor João Pombo.
During the visit, the delegation experienced first-hand the IRR’s £1.2m Train Hi-fidelity On-board Motion Simulator, known as THOMoS, which is a motion platform-based simulator capable of precisely reproducing the on-board motions of railway vehicles.
The unique facility can provide the opportunity to experience the ride comfort on a railway system before it is built, providing critical design assurance for stakeholders and ultimately, comfort for passengers.
Professor Paul Allen commented: “Following on from the launch of Centric in the summer, it has been fantastic to welcome Mayor Brabin and her senior leadership team to the IRR. Beyond showcasing our research laboratories, we held formative discussions as to how the world-class capabilities residing on the doorstep of the region’s mass transit scheme can be applied to help de-risk and embed new technologies, providing an exemplar transport system that is sympathetic to the built environment, reliable and cost-effective, whilst meeting the needs of the region's passengers.”
Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin commented: “Our region is home to incredible talent and world-class expertise in transport innovation – and it was brilliant to see it first-hand at the University of Huddersfield.
“Harnessing that talent and groundbreaking technology through this exciting partnership will help us deliver a state-of-the-art Mass Transit system and our integrated Weaver Network.
“Together, we’re building a greener, better-connected region that works for all.”
Since it was founded over a decade ago, the IRR has built up a reputation as a world-class centre for railway engineering research and innovation, working closely with industry and academic partners to deliver impactful research for a safer, more reliable and cost-efficient low-carbon railway.
Awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for innovations in research and development that have brought significant improvements to the railway industry, the Institute leads the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network’s (UKRRIN) Centre of Excellence in Rolling Stock.
With a team of over 30 dedicated academic research staff, the IRR has received £14m of investment in state-of-the-art full-scale test facilities and has extensive capabilities in the simulation and testing of rail systems, with a focus on vehicle-track dynamics and pantograph-catenary interaction dynamics, combined with expertise in smart maintenance, traction and braking system optimisation and rail technology development.