Our fifth rail decarbonisation blog comes from Dr Andrew Quinn who explains where climate change and railway resilience fit into the decarbonising agenda. Thanks go to Rachel Fisher for her contributions. You may remember the dramatic image of suspended railway track after the supporting structure was washed away in February 2014 along the infamous Dawlish … Continue reading “Weathering climate change with resilient railways”
Power electronics for energy conversion and efficiency
Dr Pietro Tricoli writes about his work in power electronics and how it plays its part in the decarbonisation agenda. If you think about rail decarbonisation you’re likely to think, “Electric trains.” You will have read in this blog series that we need the right amount of the right kind of electricity to power our … Continue reading “Power electronics for energy conversion and efficiency”
Energy, Electricity and Fuel for decarbonised railways
Dr Stuart Hillmansen explains about how much energy we really need for a train, and how we can decarbonise this energy. We have heard from our aerodynamic team about the importance of air resistance on train energy consumption, and in today’s blog we are going to get down to business to delve deeper into … Continue reading “Energy, Electricity and Fuel for decarbonised railways”
Decarbonising the railway using sustainable infrastructure and asset management
Decarbonisation is not just about electrifying the network. The railway infrastructure is a significant proportion of rail’s carbon footprint and provides us with rich pickings for improvements including choice of: lower-Carbon materials and designs; managing assets more effectively; using AI and data science to underpin decision-making; applying whole-systems-thinking to the railway. Here are some of … Continue reading “Decarbonising the railway using sustainable infrastructure and asset management”
Not feeling the pressure with aerodynamic research at BCRRE!
Here at BCRRE one of our best-established themes of research is in aerodynamics. Aerodynamic research is led by Dr David Soper, Lecturer in Vehicle Aerodynamics, and is one of the topics within the Decarbonisation theme. Why is aerodynamics important? The movement of a train creates a complex aerodynamic flow field around the vehicle. The force … Continue reading “Not feeling the pressure with aerodynamic research at BCRRE!”
BCRRE Rail Decarbonisation Week
Alex Burrows, Director of BCRRE, introduces BCRRE’s Rail Decarbonisation week Last week, with all of the other news going on, many will have missed the UK Government’s policy paper, Decarbonising Transport: Setting the Challenge that sets out the Department for Transport’s strategy for developing their Transport Decarbonisation Plan which will be published later in 2020. … Continue reading “BCRRE Rail Decarbonisation Week”
Self-adjusting railway track switches – reducing journey delays and maintenance costs
Research on self-adjusting railway track switch could reduce both journey delays and maintenance costs This research was conducted by Dr Saikat Dutta, Professor Roger Dixon and colleagues from Loughborough University. The railways have been through major innovations in the past two centuries. Despite frequent ground-breaking innovations, regular commuters are more commonly concerned about frequent delays. These … Continue reading “Self-adjusting railway track switches – reducing journey delays and maintenance costs”
Response to Rail Alliance new membership support
Here at BCRRE we are delighted to be associated with the Rail Alliance and its support for the supply chain during the current COVID-19 lockdown crisis. In response to the growing concern and uncertainty of the current situation regarding COVID-19, Rail Alliance remains focused on providing support, guidance and opportunities for its SME Community. In … Continue reading “Response to Rail Alliance new membership support”
Is this the end for rail franchising?
Is this the end of rail franchising? This morning the UK Transport Secretary has announced that train operating companies (TOCs) can transfer their current rail franchise agreements to ‘Emergency Measures Agreements’. Read @alexcburrows blog here: We are currently in the middle of an extraordinary situation. As the UK, along with the rest of the world, … Continue reading “Is this the end for rail franchising?”
Hydrogen power – replacing diesel with hydrogen fuel cell and battery
Dr Stuart Hillmansen, Senior Lecturer in Electrical Energy Systems, tells us about how to replace diesel using Hydrogen and battery power The centre’s research has shown the best current candidate to provide traction power to replace diesel multiple units is a combination of hydrogen fuel cell and battery. Each of the sub-systems involved in creating … Continue reading “Hydrogen power – replacing diesel with hydrogen fuel cell and battery”