Wolverhampton manufacturer wins contract to design major rail test rig

Heinrich Georg (UK), based on the Dunstall Hill Trading Estate in Wolverhampton, has won the right to design the test rig for the University of Leeds’ new Institute for High Speed Rail and System Integration.

The new IHSRSI, which will be one of the most advanced in the world, will investigate rail systems including the measurement of how train, track, power systems and signals interact as a single system.

It is the UK’s first dedicated research centre for high speed rail and system integration and aims to be operational during 2021.

Martin Summers, test rigs & special purpose machines manager at Georg UK, said: “We’re delighted to have won such a prestigious contract and to be working closely with the University of Leeds to design a Test Rig that can replicate any rail journey and test vehicle performance at a component level.”

Professor Peter Woodward, Head of the IHSRSI, said: “The Institute will revolutionise the testing, commissioning and building of new trains, rail infrastructure and systems, both in the UK and overseas.”

Georg UK is the UK subsidiary of Germany’s leading engineering company Heinrich Georg GmbH.

It has been based at Dunstall Hill for the last 12 years, where its 25-strong team works on projects covering a variety of industry.

The entire research centre in Leeds is based is being funded to the tune of more than £65 million.

Georg UK’s roots lie in traditional steel and aluminium process equipment and the company has have become one of the UK’s leaders in custom-built engineering automated solutions and providers of industry leading test rigs.

The Wolverhampton site includes 2D and 3D engineering design and stress analysis facilities and is the hub for its automation and test innovation centre.

Clients operate in the automotive, aerospace, rail research, material processing, food and industrial assembly sectors and include companies such as Moog Wolverhampton, Moog US, UTC Aerospace, GE, University of Leeds, University of Huddersfield and John Tainton.

The company’s test rigs team specialises in the innovative design and manufacture of high performance automated test machines and systems incorporating high speed digital controls, processing and data collection for aerospace and rail industries.

Its coil processing team, meanwhile, specialises in producing machines that process high quality silt coils and packs without damaging the surface finish or edges and are amongst the best in the world. Machinery is custom-designed and tailored to client’s finishing requirements, with specialist experience in refurbishments, upgrades and retro-fits.