France to Fund EU Institute for Rail Tech Innovation

France has extended €550m funding to the European Institute for Technological Research in Rail Infrastructure to support research and development, innovation and engineering training in rail infrastructure.

As part of the project, a main campus will be set up in Valenciennes and the surrounding area, while a secondary site will be set up in the Lille area in northern France.

The campus will have a 5km rail test loop, a tramway test track, a fatigue simulation track, running trial facilities and service structures.

The project will focus on developing a sustainable infrastructure that is more reliable and intelligent, performs better and is more easily certifiable.

Work on building the research centre will start in 2015 and it is expected to be operational by 2017.