Rail Forum, a collaboration between the industry and the UK government, has announced a challenge competition to encourage SME businesses (small and medium-sized enterprises) to create freight terminals of the future. Lead industry partner will be the rail-minded aggregates corporation Tarmac. A formal launch is planned for later this month.

In its fourth year, the SME Rail Challenge is designed to help identify the needs of industry and steer towards rail-based solutions. The format is designed to provide opportunities for businesses to work collaboratively. The intention is that input from clients and potential clients will help develop and offer solutions to actual needs. As a well-recognised customer of rail freight across their entire UK operation, Tarmac has been chosen as the lead partner on the project.

Formal launch this month

Drawing on the expertise of over 330 member businesses across the UK, the Rail Forum actively supports the national rail agenda and the UK government’s industrial strategy – outlined in the Rail Sector Deal, signed off by the serving transport secretary Chris Grayling back in 2018. That document recognised the lack of capacity for rail freight growth and encouraged initiatives to invest in the necessary skills and resources to deliver long-term passenger and freight capacity and reliability. From that has come the initiative of the annual SME Rail Challenge, which encourages collaboration, promotes members’ capabilities, leads a number of regional skills initiatives and supports innovation and export priorities.

The annual SME Rail Challenge takes on a different theme each year. As an experienced user and a leading advocate of rail freight growth, the company Tarmac, working with the Rail Forum and industry partners, is helping to launch this year’s challenge, designed to create the freight terminals of the future. The challenge’s scope will be formally outlined at an online event on Wednesday, 20 April.

Innovating rail freight

As well as Tarmac and the Rail Forum, the project is an industry collaboration involving rail freight operators DB Cargo, Freightliner and GB Railfreight, together with rolling stock leasing multinational Ermewa. Academic support comes from the University of Derby. The industry representative body, the Rail Freight Group, has also provided its voice and backing.

Construction giants Tarmac, among the largest rail freight users in the UK, have an ongoing corporate sustainability commitment, which encourages innovation in the rail freight sector. Their head of rail, Chris Swan, says transporting construction materials by rail is an integrated part of their business. “We’re always keen to explore new ways of innovating rail freight and, in particular, opportunities to reduce CO2 across our business and the industry further”, he said.” “The SME challenge is a great opportunity for collaboration and to discover creative ideas from inside and outside of the sector to develop UK rail terminals of tomorrow. We are proud to be part of such an exciting initiative and look forward to hearing from SMEs nationwide as the challenge gets underway”.

Collateral benefits

The challenge intends to foster fresh thinking throughout the industry at large. Not surprisingly, the organisers encourage thoughts around decarbonisation, automation and digitalisation.” We are really pleased to bring this fourth challenge opportunity to the SME community”, said Bob Hodgson, the engagement manager at the Rail Forum.” “SME challenges have been very successful with a number of SMEs gaining “first of a kind” funding to bring their products to market”.

Elaine Clark, who is chief executive of the Rail Forum, said the track record of the initiative already had made a difference and introduced new partnerships and ideas. “The success of the [past] SME challenges
demonstrates they are providing real opportunities for SMEs to work collaboratively with clients to take their ideas from concepts through to the next stages of development, and we look forward to watching them come to life”.

The SME challenges are delivered as part of the Rail SupplyGroup’ss Rail Sector Deal Midlands Pilots. All SMEs are welcome to join, especially where aspirations exist to engage with the rail freight industry.