The Global Centre of Rail Excellence and Urban.MASS forge ground-breaking mobility partnership

2024/03/21

The Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) this week announced a collaboration with Urban.MASS, an exciting, rapidly-growing mobility business specialised in designing and creating innovative zero-emission mass transit solutions.

The GCRE is a facility for world-class rail and sustainable mobility research, testing and innovation currently being developed in South Wales.

The partnership will see Urban.MASS deploy its exciting cost-effective, sustainable, scalable, driverless, on-demand transit system on the GCRE site, providing a platform to finesse, prove, certify and demonstrate new ways of providing accessible inclusive zero-emission mobility.

Chief Executive of GCRE Simon Jones and Urban Mass CEO Kevin O’Grady this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding at GCRE in South Wales, paving the way for the demonstration of Urban.MASS' groundbreaking technologies to support modal shift and enhance innovative shared mobility.

Through the partnership, Urban.MASS will demonstrate how its technologies and solutions can optimise efficiency, connectivity, and sustainability within rail environments and support the path to net zero. 

Chief Executive of GCRE Limited, Simon Jones said:

“We are delighted to collaborate with Urban.MASS and to begin what is an exciting innovation partnership at the GCRE facility.

“To get to Net Zero by 2050 requires a significant shift in our economy and in our lives, with major changes needed in mobility and the way people and goods move around. We’ve got to find new ways to build more sustainable, cost effective and integrated transport networks and that means leaning into the ideas and the technologies like Urban.MASS are developing.

“At GCRE we can provide world class facilities for infrastructure innovation and R&D that will allow Urban.MASS to develop and showcase their ideas and cutting-edge solutions in a high-quality testing environment.

“By demonstrating Urban.MASS' innovative technologies, we can show the transformative advancements in urban mobility and at the same time illustrate just what GCRE can be used for.

“This partnership underscores our commitment to fostering innovation and driving progress. It’s great to see the commercial demand for the GCRE growing and the impressive calibre of partners who want to come and work with us.”

Chief Executive of Urban.MASS Kevin O’Grady said:

"We are thrilled to develop this innovative partnership with GCRE and to demonstrate the potential of Urban.MASS technologies for enhanced road and rail mobility services. This collaboration represents an exciting opportunity to showcase the synergy between urban innovation and rail excellence, ultimately contributing to smarter, more connected transportation systems.

“The facilities at the GCRE will be amongst some of the best in the world, and it's that kind of ‘live’ rail testbed that we need to help develop the next generation of sustainable mobility technologies.

“At Urban.MASS, our mission is to create innovative zero-emission mobility technology, focused on delivering affordable, accessible and connected mass transit for all and reducing congestion and pollution from passenger and cargo transport. Our innovation partnership with the GCRE can help us deliver that in a high-quality rail environment.”

Urban.MASS has earned acclaim for its innovative urban technologies, ranging from smart infrastructure solutions to sustainable mobility systems and advanced data analytics. By partnering with GCRE, Urban.MASS aims to showcase the practical applications of its pioneering solutions within the context of a rail environment. 

The signing of the MOU marks the commencement of a long-term collaboration between Urban.MASS and GCRE, with both entities committed to driving innovation in rail and mobility on a global scale.

Notes to Editors:

• About GCRE: GCRE was established in 2021 with an initial commitment of £50 million from the Welsh Government. The UK Government is supporting the project with funding for research and development along with capital funding of £20 million. GCRE is currently involved in a process to secure private investment for the facility. Spanning the former Nant Helen opencast site and Onllwyn Washery in South Wales, GCRE will be the UK’s first net zero railway.
• About Urban.MASS: A UK-based mobility business focused on the design and delivery of innovative, zero-emission mass transit solutions. Urban.MASS was founded to create affordable, accessible and connected mass transit for all, and to reduce congestion and pollution from passenger and cargo transport. Products include the Floc® Duo Rail® system, a flexible transit system that can match capacity with demand via high frequency ‘platoons’ of passenger and/or cargo logistics pods. Its narrow and flexible footprint minimises the need for earthworks, costly tunnels and large stations. urbanmass.co.uk/about-us.php 

Media enquiries

Please contact Andrew Johnson on 07949 449727 or email Andrew.johnson@gcre.wales

For Urban.MASS, please contact Stuart Bloomfield on +420 602 662 131 or email stuart.bloomfield@urbanmass.co.uk