“Railways entering their 3rd Century”
Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:49:00 GMT
On the eve of the Beeching Report’s 50th anniversary, the head of the University’s Institute of Railway Research gives his inaugural professorial lecture
President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Professor Isobel Pollock with the University's Professor Simon Iwnicki, the Head of the Institute of Railway Research
ON the eve of the 50th anniversary of the infamous Beeching Report, which axed huge swathes of Britain’s rail network, a professor at the University of Huddersfield showed how railways are poised for a new revolution, driven by technological innovation, which means that they are vital to future transport needs.
Professor Simon Iwnicki heads the Institute of Railway Research, which is based at the University. He delivered his inaugural professorial lecture – entitled Railways: entering the 3rd Century – to an audience which included one of the country’s most eminent engineers and holder of an office that dates back to the Victorian rail pioneers George and Robert Stephenson.
Professor Isobel Pollock is the 127th President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers – an organisation founded in 1847. Its first presidents were the legendary railway and locomotive builders George and Robert Stephenson, who ushered in a transport revolution that changed society.
During his lecture, Professor Iwnicki showed how, as railways enter their third century, developments in technology and computer modelling mean that we are poised for a new revolution in the way that railways are designed and operated and how we interact with them. He also outlined how the new Institute of Railway Research at the University of Huddersfield is playing a leading role.
It was on 27 March 1963 that Dr Richard Beeching published his controversial report entitled The Reshaping of British Railways. The fact that this anniversary coincided with Professor Iwnicki’s lecture was pointed out by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, Professor Bob Cryan, when he made an introduction.
“Here we are, 50 years on, and despite the enormous growth of road transport since Beeching’s day, the railways still matter,” he said.
“This is one reason that the University of Huddersfield was delighted to become the base for Professor Simon Iwnicki and his colleagues in the Institute of Railway Research. It means that we are now at the epicentre of important technical developments that will help to shape the future of rail travel worldwide, making it faster and safer.”
