Experts in Huddersfield are working to get the rail network on track for a more cost-effective future.

Researchers at the town’s university are part of a five-year, £6.5m scheme to deliver new designs for the railways’ most vulnerable components.

They will construct test facilities in a suite of labs as well as making the most of computer modelling.

The university’s Institute of Railway Research is taking the lead in developing switches and crossings that ‘last longer and require much less maintenance.’

Switches and crossings, widely used to guide trains, are the most vulnerable components of the rail network, requiring frequent and costly maintenance and replacement which leads to disruptions in service.

The Huddersfield team will help develop new designs and explore enhanced material specifications. They will use computer-based systems modelling to allow rail companies to tailor new switches – or points – for their exact location, making them more resilient.

The Institute is to share in the Track to the Future project which involves three other universities – Southampton, Birmingham and Nottingham – to investigate three areas of improvement.

One aim is to develop long life tracks needing much less maintenance. Another is for noiseless tracks, improving quality of life for people living near rail lines – increasingly important as railways move towards 24-hour operation.

The Huddersfield Institute will contribute to the noiseless track research, but will take the lead in switches and crossings which are prone to particular wear and tear.

Professor Simon Iwnicki (left) and Dr Yann Bezin

Institute director Professor Simon Iwnicki said switches and crossings account for less than 1% of the route length of railways but absorb 20% of maintenance spending. The Institute aims to make drastic reductions in these costs.

The IRR is constructing new test facilities in its suite of labs at the university, but it also has special expertise in computer modelling and this will play an important part in the project.

Dr Yann Bezin, head of research at the Institute, said: “We have already helped manufacturers understand key issues with specific installations and help them assess potential corrective actions before significant money is spent. Likewise, they can be used earlier in the design process for an optimum design from the start, reducing future maintenance needs.”

This approach would be ‘a step change’ for the industry, said Prof Iwnicki. Currently, some components in switches last as little as three years, but the research should lead to major improvements.