Forum

摘要

Ian Walmsley ('Pan Up; last month) presents a point of view of the state of UK rail research but not the whole picture. Research involves the discovery of new facts or science previously unknown to the planet (as opposed to previously unknown to the researcher or their client), which is why it is often slow. Implementation of research results into practice is a further process that requires deliberate effort, and is often where things run into the sand in the UK. Rail Research UK was a consortium of academic groups from seven universities, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) over the period 2003-2010. It covered a wide range of disciplines from human factors to geotechnical engineering, and from materials science to network management. EPSRC had recognised the vacuum left by the demise of British Rail Research, and a primary aim of RRUKwas to establish in UK universities a capacity for fundamental research in topics relevant to railways. In this it was stunningly successful, with the result that the successor organisation the Rail Research UK Association (RRUK-A) -which unlike the original RRUK has no project funding but is essentially an interest group- has 49 member universities offering fundamental and applied research skills in a variety of areas relevant to railways.