The Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) has welcomed the railway supply chain to its second event, “Supporting SMEs and their Journey in Rail”, at the RaisE Business Centre in Goole, East Yorkshire.
With a big line up of guest speakers, from infrastructure to rolling stock, delegates heard from Ian Puckrin, Route Infrastructure Engineer and Andy Simpson, Transpennine Route Upgrade Infrastructure Integration, Network Rail about the challenges the new upgraded infrastructure on Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) brings with more assets, increased capacity, a higher line speed and reduced access. Sticking with the infrastructure theme.
Delegates also heard how BIM (Building Infrastructure Modelling) and the value of sharing data, can improve infrastructure projects from Duncan Reed, Business Development Manager at Trimble and Ric Kirman, Rail Manager, KOREC.
With an informative talk from Rob Armstrong, Expert Services Manager and EMC Engineer on achieving accreditations in rail and updates from BCRRE, Invest East Yorkshire and the National College for Advanced Transport & Infrastructure (NCATI), many topics were covered in the three-hour session.
With lots of audience participation along with Q&A sessions throughout, the event was fast paced, informative and interactive. The Head of Procurement & Logistics, Rolling Stock, UK and Ireland at Siemens, Sue Clarke held a bespoke Q&A session to help delegates to understand how to supply Siemens Mobility UK for their newly completed train manufacturing facility at Goole. Shane Duffy, Director at Enigma Seven, was on hand to advise businesses on how to supply ROSCOS and rolling stock OEMs – including a salutary lesson of being to identify the needs of your customer’s customer!
Just before lunch, delegates heard quick updates from the membership organisations RIA North, CECA Yorkshire & Humberside, Rail Forum and RBD Community. With tea, coffee, networking and a small exhibition, there were plenty of opportunities for conversations and making new connections.
Abi Broadley from Abi Broadley Consulting, working on behalf of BCRRE, said: “We are delighted with the support we receive from the rail industry to create these events. We would like to thank everyone that has supported us so far. The RaisE Conference Centre and the BCRRE Hub working together again came alive with the buzz and the ‘hubbub’.
“Our aim is to bring the rail supply chain and others together, to create an environment where people can connect and collaborate, be informed on the latest developments in rail and see the opportunities at RaisE and the new Rail Village in Goole. Holding the event on the 1st February was made more significant, because the new RaisE Café, run by Feast 78, also opened its doors for the first time – and what a feast we enjoyed!”
RaisE, the Rail Accelerator & Innovation Solutions hub for Enterprise, is at the heart of the new Rail Village in Goole. It officially opened on 27th May 2022 and is becoming established as a business centre, an ecosystem, where railway supply chain companies (existing and new) can connect and thrive alongside Siemens, BCRRE and Invest East Yorkshire – the three key stakeholders in the RaisE project.
