TRAIN rig (Transient Aerodynamic Investigation Facility), University of Birmingham.

The TRAIN rig (Transient Aerodynamic Investigation facility) at the University of Birmingham is a unique facility for testing the transient aerodynamics of moving vehicles. There are three tracks totalling 150 meters, along which reduced scale vehicles are fired at speeds up to around about 180 miles an hour.
The TRAIN rig is a completely unique facility in the UK and is only one of four moving model facilities in the world. It offers the possibility to find unique and novel solutions to aerodynamic problems for moving vehicles. The TRAIN rig facility has been used by industry partners such as the Railway Safety and Standards Board, High Speed 2, Cross Rail and Arup. It was used to help them find solutions to the aerodynamic issues they have on their strategic projects.
The advantage of using a moving model facility over a traditional stationary wind tunnel is the ability to replicate the relative motion between the moving vehicle and the ground or the infrastructure through which that vehicle is passing. The open air track section can be set up to test a whole range of infrastructure and ground scenarios using a range of instrumentation including multi-hole pressure probes to measure free components of velocity as well as static pressure. Test rigs can be tapped to understand the forces which are induced onto these models as vehicles pass, as well as a tomographic PIV system which allows 3D measurements of the flow allowing it to be explored and understood it in a much greater level of detail.
The next section of track can be mounted with tunnels up to 40 meters long with various dimensions and cross sections. This section is used to understand how pressure waves bounce up and down tunnels and enabling the development of mitigation factors to prevent sonic booms occurring from the end of tunnels.
And finally the crosswind section of the track hosts the largest crosswind generator of any moving model facility in the world. This section allows researchers to look at various ground scenarios and setups of infrastructure to understand how crosswinds interact with vehicles, a range of wind speeds and yaw angles. As well as the wide range of instrumentation for measuring the aerodynamics around the vehicles, the facility also incorporates bespoke sensors which can be fitted inside models while travelling down the tracks as they move.
The facility itself is on the RTC Business Park in Derby and is surrounded by key industrial partners. The University of Birmingham academic and research experts work closely with industry to solve a wide range of complex aerodynamic issues for the transportation sector.