National University Rail Center of Excellence opens at UIUC

Government and education officials were on hand yesterday to mark the opening of the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

The NURail CoE is a consortium of nine universities and is the first academic research and education center to be supported by Federal Railroad Administration

Last year, the FRA awarded a $5 million grant to UIUC as the lead institution for the fiscal-year 2022-2023 Rail Research and Development Center of Excellence program. The funds supported the opening of NURail CoE.The center's mission is to "develop solutions that will lead to a safer, more efficient, sustainable, equitable and reliable rail transportation system in the United States and advance U.S. Department of Transportation goals," according to a UIUC press release.

NURail CoE comprises a consortium of 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.

Under the NURail CoE program, the FRA provided up to 50% of the cost of establishing and operating the center and supporting research activities. Each of the nine universities will contribute a portion of the total nonfederal match.