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Rail Freight Group award win

10 September 2026

Aether have been recognised for work alongside Railfreight Consulting and RSSB at the Rail Freight Group 2026 Annual Awards. The Innovation Award recognises the impact RSSB research projects T1302/1 and T1348 have had for rail industry stakeholders.  

“The winner in the Innovation category has delivered really significant improvements by closely examining outdated data, comparing it with real-world performance and developing models which unlock benefits for freight routes across the country. The work has enabled Trailing Load Limits and Sectional Running Times to be recalculated, resulting in the ability to run faster or longer trains within the same path. This is a fundamental upgrade to core railway knowledge, improving productivity, capacity, safety and service quality.” 

T1302/1 research is already being used by operators to safely run longer and heavier trains. This increases the cost-effectiveness of rail freight and supports modal shift from road to rail. 

T1348 challenged the 2/3rds rule which restricts speeds of Class 6 and 7 freight services to 2/3rds of the signalling design speed across the Southern Region. As a result of tis research opportunities to deliver faster freight journey times were identified. Around South and Southeast London capacity can now be unlocked on congested sections, bringing benefit to all users of the rail network. 

Read more: T1301 case study, T1348 case study

Photo (L-R): John Smith (GB Railfreight), Chris Wells (Railway Braking Associates), Kieran Lee (Aether), Sharon Odetunde (RSSB), Neil Grennan-Heaven (Carrickarory Consulting), Ralph Goldney (Railfreight Consulting), Mark Gibbs (Aether), Lydia Cullimore (Burges Salmon)

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