Copy of RRUK 2: Universities' Centre for Rail Systems Research

Completed

Energy Efficiency(Transport)
Not Energy Related

Basic and strategic applied research
Applied Research and Development

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Economics and Econometrics)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Sociology)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Civil Engineering)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Consumer attitudes and behaviour)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Technology acceptance)

Professor W Powrie
Faculty of Engineering and the Environment
University of Southampton

Standard

EPSRC

07 September 2006

06 September 2010

48 months

£3,974,001

Management & business studies

South East

NC : Engineering

Professor W Powrie, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton

Professor CJ Baker, Infra. Engineering & Management, University of Birmingham
Dr C Davis, Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham
Professor RM Goodall, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Loughborough University
Dr CJ Goodman, Electronic, Electrical and Computer Eng, University of Birmingham
Professor M.J. Griffin, Inst of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton
Dr S D Iwnicki, Sch of Computing and Engineering, University of Huddersfield
Professor A Kapoor, Mechanical and Systems Engineering, Newcastle University
Professor M McDonald, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton
Professor CA Nash, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds
Professor RA Smith, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London
Professor J Wilson, Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Nottingham

Project Contact, Rail Safety & Standards Board
Project Contact, Network Rail Ltd

Railways have a vital role in any 21st century transport policy. No other form of transport could cope with the large numbers of people transported into and around major cities every day by commuter railways and metro systems. Trunk lines can shift vast quantities of freight, keeping thousands of lorries off our roads, and intercity routes are increasingly competitive for speed and convenience with domestic air transport. Even in rural areas, railways often offer more reliable and attractive public transport than buses. Environmentally, railways outperform road vehicles and aircraft in terms of energy efficiency, air pollution and noise. However, railways are operating at or beyond capacity. The system can take a long time to recover from a small delay, and disruption on one part of the network can spread rapidly to affect services elsewhere. There is little time for vital maintenance, and last year one train company had to re-write its timetable completely because of unacceptablypoor reliability. Travel is becoming increasingly popular, and if the Government's plans to introduce road charging for car journeys cause just 1% of people to switch to rail, the system will be overwhelmed. Rail Research UK is a consortium of twelve university-based groups carrying out research across a range of areas from engineering to human factors and transport economics, that will help to reduce the complexity and need for maintenance of railway systems, reduce their environmental impacts, increase their capacity and improve their reliability, attractiveness and safety

14/05/07