UKRRIN works closely with the Rail Safety and Standards Board, a company limited by guarantee set up in 2003 following the collapse of Railtrack in 2002 and the subsequent separation of Railtrack's original remit into intrastructure management (Network Rail) and Safety and Standards (RSSB).
Since UKRRIN's goal is to improve collaboration between the rail industry and academia, it's relevant that UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), with a budget of seven billion pounds Sterling, "works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish". It operates through a series of Councils, including Research England which "creates and sustains the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and knowledge exchange system in English universities". Another area of UK Research and Innovation's work is carried out through Innovate UK. At the time of writing, UKRI are creating a single website to bring together the existing research council, Innovate UK and Research England websites. An example of this collaboration is the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE), headed by Clive Roberts and hosted at Birmingham University where a new building for the Centre of Excellence in Digital Systems is nearing completion. BCRRE works closely with The Rail Alliance, based at Quinton Rail Technology Centre, Long Marston (there's a post in this blog about Long Marston here).
I travelled to the venue by public transport, walking from Birmingham New Street station to Centenary Square where the Birmingham Repertory Theatre is located.
Centenary Square, with L: Birmingham Repertory Theatre, R: Library of Birmingham (Birmingham, November 2019)
Birmingham Repertory Theatre is housed in a 1971 building. The 1991 theatre extension was demolished to make way for the Library of Birmingham and both buildings are linked by a shared new foyer area. Unique Venues Birmingham is a joint initiative between Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Library of Birmingham promoting wider use of the facilities.
Registration in the foyer was efficient and a welcoming hot drink was provided in the curved theatre lobby area by Unique Venues Birmingham. I believe around 250 delegates were registered for the event.
The lobby area, and a similar area on the Mezzanine floor above, also served as exhibition space for a number of universities and companies.
View of the Lobby area (UKRRIN Annual Conference, 21st November 2019)
The conference proceedings were held in the Studio Theatre, a conventional theatre space seating 300 in a tiered auditorium.
The Chairman for the morning session welcomes delegates (UKRRIN Annual Conference, 21st November 2019)
In the first session, there were addresses by Simon Iwnicki from the Centre of Excellence in Rolling Stock at University of Huddersfield, Richard Murray from Teledyne e2v, Clive Roberts from BCRRE, Luisa Moisio from RSSB and Andy Doherty from Network Rail.
A 30-minute refreshment break provided opportunities to study the varied technologies being demonstrated in the exhibition areas in the lobby and mezzanine areas before delegates divided into four 'Breakout Sessions' covering:-
Reliable Assets.One of these was held in the Studio Theatre, the others were in three smaller Suites on the mezzanine level above the shared foyer area. Each one-hour breakout session featured presentations from five different speakers on current initiatives, followed by question and answer sessions moderated by a chairman.
Data-Enabled Railway
Optimised Train Operations.
Low Emission Railway.
View from Mezzanine Level of the adjacent Library of Birmingham lobby (UKRRIN Annual Conference, 21st November 2019)
A very adequate buffet-style lunch was served both on the lobby level and mezzanine level. On the mezzanine level, it was possible to sit looking out over Centenary Square but there was also plenty of interest in the exhibition stands.
Back in the Studio Theatre, Clive Roberts from BCRRE introduced the afternoon sessions. The first session, titled 'A global perspective: what are we doing to improve UK Rail export performance?', was moderated by Noel Travers of Unipart Rail. There were addresses by David McGorman of Unipart Rail, Julian Stow from University of Huddersfield and Kevin Fry from Balfour Beatty, followed by a question and answer session.
Next, there was an address by the winner of the Young Innovator Award, Mohamed Samra, followed by presentations to the winner and two runners-up.
Clive Roberts and Luisa Moisio presenting an award (UKRRIN Annual Conference, 21st November 2019)
A short refreshment break preceded the final session of the day - a debate titled 'Nurturing Young Talent and encouraging diversity in rail: are we doing enough?'.
I left before the networking drinks reception which closed an absorbing and worthwhile event.
During the day, Clive Roberts announced that RSSB and University of Birmingham will host the 13th World Congress on Railway Research (WCRR) in Birmingham from 6th to 10th June 2022. The website for this event is here.
Relevant websites
UKRRIN (United Kingdom Rail Research and Innovation Network).
RSSB(Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited).
UK Research and Innovation.
Research England.
Innovate UK.
Birmingham Repertory Theatre (Wikipedia).
Library of Birmingham (Wikipedia).
Unique Venues Birmingham.
World Congress on Railway Research 2022.
Related posts on this website
Rail Research UK Association Annual Conference 2017.
Rail Industry Information Day, 2018.
Quinton Rail Technology Centre.
My Pictures
UKRRIN Conference 2019.
