Frazer-Nash will shortly be calling on UK Industry to propose
innovative ideas for improving trains as part of the Future
Railways Programme. These ideas will be put forward as part of a
project to improve trains across the country.
The Engineering consultancy has just been appointed to manage
the Radical Train project on behalf of the Enabling Innovation Team
(EIT). This Enabling Innovation Team has been set up by the rail
industry in order to support embedding innovation as part of
everyday business and to stimulate innovators to meet the
challenges of the UK industry.
The purpose of this project is to develop a Radical Train
demonstrator which will show how a significant step change in the
performance of trains on UK railways can be made and to develop
radical train systems and sub-systems which might also have
international market potential. Throughout the project Frazer-Nash
will be encouraging companies and universities across the UK to put
forward their innovative ideas. These will then be assessed and a
minimum of three short listed to be taken forward to demonstrator
stage with part funding from EIT.
Ahead of the launch of the competition, interested parties can
find out more about the work of EIT at http://www.futurerailway.org/eit
plus read into the Railway Technical Strategy (RTS) and download a
copy from http://www.futurerailway.org/RTS
An animation of what the Future Railway could look like can be seen
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWCRny4ufYM
Full details of the competition, including contact information,
will be posted on the EIT website in the next few weeks along with
further updates on this and other EIT projects.
David Clarke, Director, Enabling Innovation Team (EIT) said,
"The Radical Train challenge is an exciting opportunity to seek out
and demonstrate game-changing innovations to the UK railway,
proving not only that the idea can become an innovation, but also
that there is a real benefit to implementation."
Speaking about the project, Richard Jones, Business Manager for
Rail at Frazer-Nash said, "This is a unique opportunity for
innovative companies, and not just those within the Rail Industry,
to put forward their ideas for radically improving trains in the
UK. We are delighted to be managing this exciting initiative and we
are looking forward to launching the competition and receiving some
inventive proposals."