Our work to discover, uncover, and support new ways of working
We work with academia, supply chain, and the international rail and transport research community to share knowledge and signpost promising routes to modernisation.
In June 2022, we co-hosted the 13th World Congress on Railway Research, the largest international gathering devoted to research and innovation in the sector. Close to 1000 international delegates joined us in Birmingham over four days, to share their latest work and reflect on the opportunities to speed up adoption of new knowledge and solutions.
In 2022-23, we monitored the collective progress of industry against all five priorities on the Rail Technical Strategy (RTS), detailing the latest status against the stepping stones captured in the original routemaps. A batch of new case studies across all five priorities was also published in Q3. This work helped both celebrate successes and increase scrutiny where progress is slower than anticipated.
Our collaborations with Academia and in particular via our 3 universities partners – University of Huddersfield, University of Leeds, and University of Sheffield – has continued to deliver great new knowledge and, thanks to UKRRIN, enabled the engagement of industrial partners early in the process.
To start answering questions about what the future might be now and be prepared, we created a new capability called ‘RSSB Futures Lab’. Futures Lab has started to use use foresight, horizon scanning and systems engineering approaches to identify opportunities for the pro-active development of RSSB capabilities to address potential disruptors or enablers of change.
Recognising, and working within, the pressures on research and development funding, our work in 2023-24 will:
Keep the RTS up to date, reporting progress against the existing route maps and building the long-term vision in line with cross-industry Control Period 7 research and innovation planning, and wider industry planning. This will help decision makers and solution developers coordinate and target future investments.
Facilitate promising solutions along their innovation journey toward benefit realisation by working with university partners and suppliers. In particular, we will co-fund the building and testing of a prototype enhanced trailing arm bush to reduce track wear and improve ride comfort for passengers. This will be pursued via collaborative research with academia, train manufacturers, tier 3 suppliers, and rolling stock owners.
Continue to support organisations across the industry to accelerate and maximise the take-up of insights and solutions developed by the RSSB R&D programme. Helping stakeholders through the barriers to implementation generates tangible benefits for the operational railway.
Our Futures Lab capability will make use of its horizon scanning, foresight, and systems engineering capabilities. We will explore significant and disruptive changes impacting the future of rail. These will cover weather resilience and climate change adaptation; digitisation and complex systems; and autonomous systems and artificial intelligence. In these areas we will identify opportunities to develop future standards and guidance, risk models, and new knowledge and tools. This work will enable and enhance industry readiness and resilience.
