UIUC opens NURail CoE to advance rail research

The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign cut the ribbon to the University-led National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) at the Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory.

Everyone celebrated the opening of the academic rail research and education center of excellence to be supported by the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The $15-million center will work to advance research solutions to enhance the safety, efficiency, reliability and sustainability of both passenger and freight rail transportation.

Attendees at the NURail CoE ribbon cutting included Illinois Grainger Engineering professor Chris Barkan, of the civil and environmental engineering department.

“A lot of people are saying thank you today, which is appropriate because a lot of work has been going on for years to bring us to this day,” Barkan said.

He continued by thanking the partners and collaborators within academia, government and industry that made NURail CoE a possibility here at Grainger Engineering. And “most of all” Barkan thanked the students in attendance, as they are the reason “why we do this. You are the future of rail transport in this country.”

Barkan will serve as NURail CoE director and also serves as the George Krambles Director of Grainger Engineering’s esteemed Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC), which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and is the largest railway educational program in North America. 

The NURail Center is a nine-university consortium led by RailTEC at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Center includes The University of Illinois Chicago, University of Delaware, Kansas State University, Michigan Technological University, Morgan State University, Rutgers University, University of Texas at Austin and Tuskegee University.

“We are excited to celebrate this important milestone in the advancement of rail transportation,” Barkan said. “My partners and I are incredibly grateful for the support that the NURail CoE has received from the USDOT Federal Railroad Administration as well as the Illinois Department of Transportation, Michigan Department of Transportation, New Jersey Transit and our many rail sector sponsors and supporters. We look forward to continuing our work together and are eager to get started.”