€550 Million Budget For Technological Innovation In Railway Infrastructure

Online, July 12, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The French government has just announced that the proposal submitted by RAILENIUM - the name given to the European Institute for Technological Research in Rail Infrastructure and registered by France's Lille Nord university - has just been selected with 5 other projects. The way ahead is therefore clear for the major European and international RAILENIUM project - a project which sets out to establish the consortium as a global R&D, innovation and training engineering leader in rail infrastructure and promote French and European technological excellence.

RAILENIUM brings together the best state-funded researchers and manufacturers in France, and will soon be bringing expertise from throughout Europe. The equipment and research platforms that it will provide will be unique in Europe. This will include a 5 km rail test loop, a tramway test track, a fatigue simulation track, running trial facilities and service structures. Also included will be a campus of excellence which will be set up in Valenciennes and the surrounding area for the main site, and in the Lille urban area in northern France for the secondary site. RAILENIUM will strive to meet the requirements of manufacturers in order to spur innovation and enable equipment certification. It will do this through various public-private partnerships set up for research, training and innovation purposes. It will work along three strategic fronts: developing sustainable infrastructure, developing an infrastructure that is more high-performance, more reliable and more intelligent, and developing an infrastructure that is more easily certifiable. Work will begin on building the research centre in 2015, and it should be operational by 2017.

When the RAILENIUM project was presented, Hubert du Mesnil, chairman and CEO of RFF (France Railways) emphasised: "The RAILENIUM project is a major asset that will help the French and European rail industry play a leading role in terms of R&D and innovation".

RAILENIUM is built on the foundations of i-Trans, the global competitivity cluster, and has been developed around an exemplary consortium made up of a broad range of manufacturers (driven by RFF - France Railways), public research bodies and regional authorities, led by the Nord Pas de Calais Regional Council which has lent a great deal of support this project.

RAILENIUM members
Member Research and Training Bodies:
Lille Nord de France University Research & Further Education Hub
Lille Ecole Centrale (graduate engineering school),
Douai Ecole des Mines (civil engineering school)
IFSTTAR (French institute of science and technology for transport, development and networks)
Artois University,
Compiègne University of Technology
Lille University of Science and Technology,
Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrèsis University,
Member industrial partners:
RFF - France railways
ALSTOM
ANSALDO STS
BOUYGUES TP
COLAS RAIL
EGIS RAIL
ESI GROUP
EUROTUNNEL
GHH-VALDUNES
I-TRANS
MER MEC France
NORPAC
SATEBA
SETEC
SNCF
TATA STEEL
THALES 3S
VOSSLOH-COGIFER

RAILENIUM member local authorities
Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Council
Nord Regional Council
Valenciennes-Metropole urban community
Maubeuge Val de Sambre urban community
Lille-Metropole urban community

Partners
AIF (Association of Railway Manufacturers), Nord-Pas de Calais/Picardie
CERTIFER
EPSF (railway safety certification agency), Amiens
ERA (European railway agency), in Valenciennes and Lille
FIF (federation of railway manufacturers)
STRMTG (technical department of mountain lifts and guided transport systems)
UIC (international union of railways)

SME partners
ADES
AETECH
GEOMNIA
SOGEMA Engineering
STRATIFORME

For any further information:
Marie-Helène CAUCHY
Communications Manager
Tel +33 (0) 359 562 336
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.investinnorthernfrance.com