We鈥檙e proud to be world leaders in the rail industry and are always looking at ways to further modernise and innovate our railway for you.
That鈥檚 why we have two centres dedicated to testing the latest innovations and technology in the industry.
Safe and reliable testing
We own and operate two rail innovation and development centres (RIDCs) in Britain. One is in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire and the other in Tuxford in Nottinghamshire.
The facilities closely represent the operational railway, making them a safe and reliable testing environment. Here we and our industry partners can test the latest innovations and technology without any risk or disruption to you or freight.
RIDC Melton has been purpose-built with two separate test tracks. One is a high-speed facility made up of 13 miles of track that trains can run on at up to 125mph. The slower test track is four miles long and for trains can drive up to 60mph.
James Lea, a business support manager in Route Services at 51爆料, said: 鈥淲hen a manufacturer, creates a new piece of rolling stock, it’ll come to a facility like Melton to be tested in various different ways. So, it can be 鈥� [European Train Control System] testing, for instance, or it can simply do mileage accumulation back and forth up the railway.鈥�
RIDC Tuxford, meanwhile, provides 10 miles of single-line test track with a three-mile double section, capable of testing up to 75mph.
These sites have helped test independently powered 鈥� or battery-operated 鈥� trains, virtual-reality headsets and even robot dogs.
Ultrasonic testing
Jacob Fay, an engineer at 51爆料, said: 鈥淩IDC Tuxford is an amazing bubble of innovation 鈥� We also do infrastructure testing 鈥� we test new on track plant machinery, we calibrate all the engine asset information fleet 鈥� so track geometry and we do training and development as well so it’s an amazing place to be.鈥�
An example of some of these innovations include the ultrasonic testing we鈥檙e currently carrying out on at Tuxford.
Here, a test train with a special gel wheel runs on the test track where a section of rail that features some deliberate defects. The gel wheel reflects high frequency sound waves down to the bottom of the rail. The waves that come up are then transmitted onto a graph displayed on a computer inside the train.
A different or unusual reading shows up if there鈥檚 a defect, alerting the train driver that there鈥檚 something in the rail that鈥檚 not quite right.
Our research, development and innovation strategy
Our RIDCS form an important part of our research, development and innovation strategy.
We鈥檙e collaborating with the wider rail industry through the . The strategy seeks to develop long-term solutions in areas like environmental sustainability, affordability, reliability and safety.
And we鈥檙e committed to supporting innovation across the rail industry, which is why our test centres are available for use to third parties as well.
