Advisory Group for Rail Research and Innovation

RESEARCH STRATEGY

Railway Research Strategy in Europe is developed by ERRAC (European Railway research Advisory Council), which has set out a vision for the future, and of the key themes for study. Further details are available at www.errac.org. The ERRAC strategy provides an input to the European Commission's decisions on their research programmes.

ERRAC is chaired by Philippe Renard (Head of Research for SNCF), and UK Members are Andrew MacNaughton (Network Rail), Jonathon Ellis (SRA), and Professor Roger Goodall (Loughborough University)

Presentations from previous ERRAC meetings can be downloaded here:

Vision of the Railway Sector for 2025 (Oct 05 PowerPoint 175KB)
Strategic Research Agenda (pdf 1.3MB)
Technical Annex (pdf 1MB)
Rail Research in the EU (3.3MB)

Within the UK, the need for Railway Research was argued in a report by Sir David Davies, an outcome of which was the RSSB Research Programme

Subsequently, two other Research Strategy Documents have been developed by AGRRI and its predecessor (RRSSG).

The RRSSG report was based on significant consultation, and dealt with what needed to be researched, and an appropriate structure for taking it forward. Aspects of its recommendations which are being taken forward include the creation of RRUK, and of System Interface Committees (SICs).

The AGRRI report outlines the extent of current research, proposes mechanisms for identifying gaps in the current research portfolio meeting industry need and for prioritising activity, and makes a number of recommendations for a way forward.