February 2024 – MoniRail, a company partly owned by Unipart, has won a £2.49m UK Government grant to develop new quantum sensors for railway navigation.
Quantum sensors have the potential to revolutionise vehicle positioning because they don’t require satellite technology to determine a position. MoniRail will work with industry and academia partners, and with Transport for London where the sensors will be tested to overcome global navigation satellite system loss, a significant issue for trains in tunnels.
MoniRail was formed through the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN), a partnership between government, business and academia to bring the next generation of products and services to the UK rail industry. The UKRRIN hub is located at Unipart Rail‘s Doncaster headquarters.
Dr Colin Smith McGloin, Products & Innovation Director, Unipart said: “Unipart is delighted to be the technology partner for this project, supporting advancements in railway navigation and excited to begin our journey in developing a UK supply chain for the manufacture of quantum sensors.”
The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) grant is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Innovate UK. The UK government is focused on accelerating the adoption of quantum solutions for public benefit.
MetLase, a Unipart company, is also involved in developing quantum technology, and has been engaged to complete a manufacturing study for the magnetometer developed by the University of Sussex to explore application in medical scanning, navigation, defence, and end-of-line battery testing.