The Welsh Government's flagship Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) project will collaborate with the University of Birmingham on research and development and innovation activities.
The £200m global rail test centre in south Wales, which is due to complete by 2025, has signed an agreement with the Birmingham's Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE).
The agreement will see railway expertise from academia, government and industry contribute to rail innovation at the site of the former Nant Helen opencast mine and Onllwyn coal washery at the head of the Dulais and Tawe Valleys.