March 2017

WARWICKSHIRE MEANS BUSINESS

Region at the heart of the rail industry - past, present and future

The United Kingdom has a long and proud history in rail manufacture but the sector is very much alive today and forward-looking. And the Coventry & Warwickshire region has a big role to play in the future, as Steph Williams, an Inward Investment Officer at Warwickshire County Council, explains. 

Accelerating the local opportunities in Rail

The United Kingdom has a mighty rail and manufacturing heritage from the likes of James Watt and Matthew Boulton, developing steam engines and rail revolutions, to James Brindley, an early pioneer of interconnectivity.

That innovative and entrepreneurial culture continues, nowhere more so than locally, with the Coventry and Warwickshire region attracting major rail-manufacturers such as CAF Rail, Vivarail, Severn Lamb, design specialists DCA design and rail service providers Alstom, Network Rail, Siemens and Bombardier. The wider supply chain includes Parker Hannifin, IM Kelly, Telent, Ricardo and Unipart, along with cross-engineering specialisms.

The Rail Alliance based in Warwickshire brings together a large network of rail suppliers locally and nationally, bringing expertise and partnership opportunities.

Innovation

The region continues to accelerate Research & Development with known capabilities in design and prototyping, light-weighting, low carbon powertrain, energy storage, control systems, data integrity and cybersecurity.

Local Centres of Excellence include: Warwick Manufacturing Group, at the University of Warwick which leads in energy storage and very light rail, the Centre for Mobility and Transport and the National Transport Design Centre at Coventry University leading on design, engineering and safety solutions.

Warwickshire-based Quinton Rail Technology Centre is the UK’s rail-facility for testing, trialling and product development processes. 

Other Midland centres of excellence in rail include The Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education, Dudley’s Very Light Rail Innovation Centre, The Transport Systems Catapult, Milton Keynes, The Transportation Engineering Centre, Nottingham University and the Intelligent Transport Systems, De Montfort University.

Skills

The rail workforce across the Midlands contributes highly to employment figures. The region has continued to invest in training and development to ensure the next generation of engineers and technicians are in the pipeline, whilst upskilling the current workforce in advanced engineering and technological change.

Locally, WMG Academy for Young Engineers works collaboratively with industry to inspire 14-19 year-olds to apply engineering theory to practical business solutions. Warwickshire has a strong supply of colleges offering engineering courses, along with Coventry & Warwickshire’s apprenticeship hub offering greater routes to employment.

The new £22 million National College for High Speed Rail in Birmingham will play a vital role in future high-tech engineering.

The Future is Bright

The rail infrastructure in the UK is undergoing a prolonged period of investment. This will boost productivity and employment, attract inward investment and increase connectivity.

The HS2 project represents significant infrastructure opportunities and cross-sector working. There are also opportunities to replace ageing rolling stock and adopt lightweighting and energy storage solutions.

The creation of the Midlands Engine Opportunities in Rail programme is an initiative designed to bringing together groups of the LEP (Local Enterprise Partnerships) areas to promote, support and grow the existing rail industry cluster across the Midlands and locally in Coventry and Warwickshire.

As part of this activity, Invest Warwickshire will be leading on a wide Midland presence at Railtex 2017 the UK’s leading rail event being held at the NEC, Birmingham from May 9 to 11. At the event we will promote existing strengths in rail and look to explore foreign direct investment opportunities presented by HS2, infrastructure and low carbon developments.

Please do come and talk to us at stand number 65 to explore local rail opportunities and making new connections within the local area.

 

 

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