ERCI: European Railway Clusters Initiative

The Rail Cluster (Scotland) is a member of the European Railway Clusters Initiative (ERCI).

The ERCI comprises 18 research and innovation-oriented railway technology clusters, covering 17 countries. ERCI represents over 3,600 enterprises and research institutes including over 2,300 SMEs and aims to promote innovation and the development of new business opportunities as a means to sustainably strengthen competitiveness within the European railway industry. ERCI promotes cooperation between industry and research, initiates innovation projects, organises B2B meetings and workshops. This also includes promoting visibility and networking at EU level.

Visit their website: https://www.eurailclusters.com/

Rail Cluster members have the opportunity to present specialist topics or innovations to a European audience. Get in touch if you’re interested.

ERCI Innovation Awards Launch

The Rail Cluster Scotland is delighted to launch the UK round of the ERCI Innovation Awards with our partners BRIC and Rail Forum.

This is an exciting opportunity to raise the profile of your innovation and your company across 18 different clusters within the ERCI metacluster.

The Innovation Awards are open to both SME and large companies and focusses on innovations in TRL 7,8 and 9.

We encourage applications from organisations with innovations that meet the below criteria:

Innovation features of the solution
Economic and social benefits for the railway sector
Integration of new digital technologies
Impact on “human capital”
Creation of the innovation by networking (cooperation with other private or public entities)

Members of all three clusters are encouraged to submit their innovations by 8^th May 2026. Following evaluations, three finalists from each cluster will proceed to the international final. The announcement of the overall finalists will take place at Innotrans – winners will be notified in the summer and will need to attend Innotrans in person to collect their award.

This link provides you with the application form, guidance and rules, together with a video from the ERCI 2025 Best SME innovation award winner, and last year’s 20 applicants from the UK clusters.

Green & Sustainable Mobility Survey

The ERCI Green & Sustainable Mobility survey is gathering insight from companies across Europe to better understand how the rail and wider mobility sectors are responding to decarbonisation, sustainability and environmental challenges. The survey focuses on practical actions, technologies and approaches being adopted by industry, helping to build an evidence base that will inform future collaboration, policy discussion and innovation activity across the European Rail Clusters Initiative network. All responses are aggregated, and participation supports greater visibility of industry capability and progress in green and sustainable mobility. Respond here.