The Railway Industry Association has welcomed the news that a new rail research centre is to be based in Goole, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The news comes after the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund awarded £15m to the University of Birmingham to invest in the new centre, with support from Siemens Mobility.

This new investment will mean that the University of Birmingham can work with the University of Huddersfield to create a new Centre of Excellence for Railway Through-Life Engineering, which will be based next to the new train manufacturing facility that is due to be opened by Siemens in 2024.

Richard Carr, RIA North Business Engagement Manager, said, “This investment news is fantastic news not just for the North, but the rail industry as a whole. It represents a huge step forward in being able to support both the building and maintaining of rolling stock with a focus on robotics, sensing, and automation.

“UKRPIF’s investment enables this exciting collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the University of Huddersfield which is positive news for RIA members and the wider supply chain, including SMEs, and will encourage new ideas and ways of working to meet the future needs of the rail sector.

“RIA and our members look forward to working with the University of Birmingham, the University of Huddersfield and Siemens Mobility on this project.”