Introduction
Sir Peter Parker, Chairman of the British Rail Board in 1976–1983, famously said that ‘railways tend to fall down on their interfaces’. System Interface Committees (SICs) are senior cross-industry technical groups. Currently, there are six SICs, which help the railway industry manage these interfaces in an effective, safe, and cost-efficient way.
SICs act at a strategic and tactical level by identifying opportunities, commissioning studies, and championing research findings. They evaluate solutions and make recommendations in the best interest of the railway as a whole. Their recommendations inform decisions and standards.
Visit the RSSB website for further information on SICs.
The purpose of the Vehicle/Track System Interface Committee (V/T SIC) is to help the railway industry manage all aspects of the vehicle/track system interface. The scope of V/T SIC includes:
leading the vehicle/track research agenda
sharing the latest knowledge and understanding of vehicle/track interaction so that issues are fully understood and considered by engineers working on both sides of the interface
benchmarking GB rail practices at the vehicle/track interface against those in Europe and other nations
facilitating collaboration between industry stakeholders to improve how the vehicle/track system interface is managed and optimised
developing tools and techniques to cut vehicle/track interaction costs without compromising safety
supporting industry’s weather resilience, climate change, and decarbonisation goals
reviewing the effectiveness of controls to improve autumn performance, making recommendations for continuous improvement.
V/T SIC is made up of representatives from passenger train and freight operators, infrastructure managers, suppliers, contractors, and rolling stock owners. There is also one representative from RSSB and one from the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN).
The committee has three sub-groups:
Adhesion Research Group
Technical Advisory Group
Wheelset Management Group.
V/T SIC holds an annual seminar, covering the latest findings on damage and wear mechanisms and new management approaches to the vehicle/track interface. Find out more.
There are no current membership vacancies. The committee welcomes interest from observers who can offer specialist skills in the subject matter or would like to contribute as part of their professional development.
Further information on V/T SIC’s work is available on the RSSB website. Contact Roisin Mulvany, Lead Industry Groups Manager, with any queries: Roisin.Mulvany@rssb.co.uk
Many SIC activities are guided by and support the Rail Technical Strategy, which is made up of five functional priorities and three critical enablers. We have indicated which priority or enabler an activity supports using the following icons.
