We develop advanced railway traffic management systems to make better use of existing rolling stock and infrastructure and to manage disruptions and includes:

• Macroscopic and microscopic railway research simulator development. We have developed a comprehensive scaleable railway simulator for analysing and evaluating all types of railway networks, signalling technologies, operational rules and timetables. It can integrate with other tools and import and respond to relevant data feeds dynamically during simulation.
• Traffic Management Research including advanced algorithm development, the application of driver advisory systems; simulation, testing and evaluation of railway traffic management systems and research on standards for next generation railway traffic management.
• Railway system optimisation for energy saving, power system sizing and railway wireless data communication system optimisation.
• Simulation and lab testing for railway systems design validation and verification; and hardware in-loop testing.

BCRRE investigates fundamental questions about the use of electronic information in the transport domain, from the collection and structured storage of raw data, though efficient processing and algorithms, to the delivery of the appropriate information (information that supports their job and fits with their working practices) to staff in a timely manner. Current projects include work on large database design; open data; data exchange and modelling; cyber security; and asset management. This theme is the primary area of focus within our Strategic University Partnership with Network Rail.

BCRRE’s Condition Monitoring work focusses on developing systems that can be used to measure, track and predict the health of key railway subsystems. These improve the operational reliability of the railway, or support business cases for variations in existing maintenance procedures. Our work covers a good range of Technology Readiness Levels, producing systems to support fundamental understanding of a railway subsystem, up to working with companies to develop research into commercial products or applications.

We work closely with SMEs (e.g. Arrowvale, Abtus), Train Operating Companies (e.g. MerseyRail and Southern) and Infrastructure Managers (e.g. Network Rail and London Underground) and won the Stephenson Award for Engineering Innovation at the National Rail Awards for work using in-service instrumentation to target maintenance on the 3rd rail network. Algorithms developed at Birmingham are also used to continuously monitor the health of over 5000 sets of points installed in Network Rail infrastructure.

We research all aspects of railway energy and power systems focussing on modelling electric systems and subsystems; measuring and instrumenting vehicles and substations and design of converters for power electronics. We have developed software for use in traction simulation, single and multi-train simulators for assessing energy use, vehicle performance and braking performance analysis. Recently we have instrumented and modelled traction power substations and a vehicle on the Merseyrail network and have measured system losses. Results of our work have been deployed in the EC4T billing regime. We work with industrial partners on new traction system technologies. New power converter topologies are being explored, with the aim of integrating storage devices and reducing maintenance costs and failure rates of on-board traction equipment. Emerging devices such as Silicon Carbide MOSFETS are currently under investigation for use in traction power converters: small-scale prototypes are currently in operation in our labs.

In the design of modern trains a range of aerodynamic effects must be considered which includes the effects of aerodynamic drag on fuel consumption; unpleasant pressure variations for passengers in tunnels, the stability of trains in high winds; the effect of transient pressures and slipstreams on passing trains and passengers and trackside workers; the lift-off of ballast beneath trains; and the occurrence of micro-pressure waves (sonic booms) at the exit of long tunnels. BCRRE’s aerodynamics research group has the expertise and experience to study these phenomena at full scale, using on-train and on-track measurements; at model scale using wind tunnel and moving model rig measurements; and through the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). In particular the group has been at the forefront of development of moving model tests using the TRAIN Rig and is unique in being able to offer this breadth of expertise to the rail industry.

The railway system as whole, and many of the sub-systems such as signalling and rolling stock, is sensitive to extreme weather conditions and the changing climate. This can result in delays, speed restrictions and equipment or infrastructure failures which disrupt the network operation. This disruption can be especially severe on heavily-used networks such as that in the UK because of the interaction and interdependency between sub-systems and services. BCRRE is at the forefront of developing new ways to improve resilience holistically, from ground-breaking work on the quantification of resilience through to adaptation measures for specific sub-systems and interdependencies that can phased in as the climate changes and extreme weather conditions become more frequent. We conduct practical research to assess the measures that can be used to de-ice third rail systems and switches and we have a strategic collaboration with the Met Office for our work in this theme.

The BCRRE established a Chair in international railway benchmarking in 2015, to develop objective and authoritative research that compares the performance and characteristics of railways the world over.

Our objective is to generate a body of international comparisons in a manner that will make them essential reference material for railway companies (including manufacturers and those who are considering buying rolling stock for instance) regulators the public and other academics. The production and publication of research relating to comparative performance and characteristics or different railway products and services enables countries and railway companies to make better informed strategic and purchasing decisions and designers and builders of rolling stock and infrastructure to match their products with market requirements, in the key areas of railway capacity and performance.

Computational modelling offers a powerful way of virtually and, relatively inexpensively, investigating the physical and operational behaviour of many different elements of the Railway system. We use techniques like Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to model real world behaviour and refine system and component design. For instance, we use these techniques to simulate unusual load cases (such as a train “running through” a switch) and to refine system design when different system elements interact (e.g. reducing the pressures that develop as trains enter tunnels). The models we build are often verified and refined by comparison with experimental test data we collect in the real world either in the lab or in field tests.

Birmingham’s Geotechnical Engineering research group is a comprehensive team which works closely with Industry to produce unique, world-class knowledge in foundations, soils and geology-related subject. In the railway sector, the group has been involved in research to understand the dynamic load-deformation response and track/sub-base interactions; the design of new and replacement track systems; the development of remediation and maintenance strategies; assessment of track system performance; and the optimisation of whole life and whole system costs.

BCRRE develops new technologies, processes and systems for the non destructive testing of railway track (including switches) and wheelsets. This includes the application of robotics and autonomous systems for the deployment of the NDT sensing technologies we work with and new technologies, such as additive manfacture for applying remedial actions to correct faults. We use Alternating Current Frequency Modulation (ACFM), Ultrasonics and Laser scanning to develop NDT systems and verify their effectiveness using specialist test equipment such as our spinning wheel rail rig.