NEWS

SHIFT2RAIL is the first European rail initiative to seek focused research and innovation (R&I) and market-driven solutions by accelerating the integration of new and advanced technologies into innovative rail product solutions. Shift2Rail promotes the competitiveness of the European rail industry and meets changing EU transport needs. R&I carried out under this Horizon 2020 initiative develops the necessary technology to complete the Single European Railway Area (SERA). Moreover, Shift2Rail has ambitious targets and a robust framework in which to meet them. Specifically, the initiative aims to double the capacity of the European rail system and increase its reliability and service quality by 50%, all while halving life-cycle costs.

The proposed initiative helps to boost the rail supply industry’s competitive edge, introducing new market perspectives and offering significant employment and export opportunities.

The world leadership of the European railway manufacturing industry is being challenged by new market entrants, especially those from Asia offering attractive products at low acquisition costs. The best response to this competitive challenge is through innovation to improve product quality and reliability from day one by reducing life-cycle costs, combined with a railway system approach. Public and private investment in Shift2Rail also have a multiplier effect on the industry investment required to bring such products to the marketplace, and on expanding market opportunities for European industry, both in Europe and overseas. It also helps to overcome some of the present EU rail market shortcomings, namely fragmentation of production, insufficient collaboration and partnership across the rail industry, differing operating procedures among rail users, limited standardization and low efficiency levels.

Railway undertakings, infrastructure managers and public transport operators also benefit from innovations that drastically reduce infrastructure and operating costs. This also helps to cut down on subsidies paid out by national governments — estimated at between EUR 36 billion and EUR 38 billion in Europe in 2012.

Passengers and freight service users will benefit from a step change in the reliability and quality of services. Improved competitiveness and attractiveness of rail services, combined with increased capacity, will help rail take on an increased share of transport demand, thereby contributing to the reduction of traffic congestion and CO2 emissions. Citizens’ health and well-being will also benefit, thanks to reduced noise pollution from rail.

VG CoLAB – Vasco da Gama CoLAB – Energy Storage is focused on providing high technology services and value-added products, as well as innovative solutions for its partners and the market in the area of electrochemical energy storage. Thus, it aims to contribute to the implementation of the European energy transition agendas, providing for the development of world-leading technologies and solutions in the area of energy transition. The VG CoLAB was designed to support research, development and innovation and the creation of scientific jobs, addressing the main R&D topics that will drive the Portuguese economy. As it is clear from the Recovery Plan towards a resilient economy, railway transportation will play a key role. Several researchers involved in the Thematic Lines 2 and 3 are involved with their renewable energy systems and automation systems in the European infra-structure SHIFT2RAIL.

Atlantic International Research Centre, based in the Azores, the AIR Centre will be a platform for the development of research activities on climate, land, space and ocean. It will create scientific jobs for highly qualified human resources, while enabling integrated research on the Atlantic. The governments of Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Angola, Cape Verde, Nigeria, Uruguay and São Tomé and Príncipe are involved in this project, together with the regional government of the Azores. The United Kingdom and South Africa are involved as Observers at this stage. The participation in these infra-structures pertain the development of specific robotic systems as well as intelligent management systems relevant for the sustainable exploitation of ocean resources, such as, biomass, minerals and ocean transportation, with a competitive economic efficiency without which, the ocean will be always just a dream.

As it will be clear from the next section, the pursuit of the Sustainable Energy Systems objectives, the participation in following Colaborative Laboratory is extremely relevant.

EMSO aims to explore the oceans, to gain a better understanding of phenomena happening within and below them, and to explain the critical role that these phenomena play in the broader Earth systems. EMSO consists in a system of regional facilities placed at key sites around Europe, from North East to the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean, to the Black Sea. Observatories are platforms equipped with multiple sensors, placed along the water column and on the seafloor. They constantly measure different biogeochemical and physical parameters, that address natural hazards, climate change and marine ecosystems. EMSO offers data and services to a large and diverse group of users, from scientists and industries to institutions and policy makers. It is an extraordinary infrastructure to provide relevant information for defining environmental policies based on scientific data. EMSO is a consortium of partners sharing in a common strategic framework scientific facility (data, instruments, computing and storage capacity). Formally it is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), legal framework created for pan-European large-scale research infrastructures.

PAMI is led by CDRSP from the IP Leiria, and counts with a very strong participation of the ARISE AL research unit ISR-C from the Institute of Systems and Robotics, CEMMPRE from  Universidade Coimbra, and also involves key partners such as, IP Nunes, CENTIMFE and CNC.

ARISE LA – Advance Production and Intelligent Systems is strongly articulated to this research infrastructure. Both ARISE LA and PAMI intend to respond to a crucial competitiveness challenge and threat to future property: closing the gap between R&D activities and the development of technological innovations in production of goods. PAMI is also in-line with the CRER2020 program for the central region of Portugal. All nodes of PAMI are committed to the following general aims:

1. Fostering novel research areas and interdisciplinary fields.
2. To encourage, support and help in creation of products and launch of spin off companies from the current research institutes in fields of engineering, and medical sciences.
3. To provide educational services and prepare the new generation of engineers and,
4. To provide prototyping services to external companies/ Institutes. PAMI proposes a clever distribution of excellent infrastructures within the central region of Portugal with different areas of specialty: Mechanical, Materials, and Electrical Engineering, and Bio-Sciences.

This infra-structure plays a core role in the ARISE LA and many of its activities are already discussed in the Thematic line Advanced Production Systems and Processes.