EAST Midlands Railway (EMR) is working with the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to create a virtual reality simulation tool which, it says, will help improve efficiency and effectiveness at Nottingham Eastcroft depot. Rules, depot processes, and timings of train movements have been incorporated to develop a representative model. The project has been supported by Network Rail’s Performance Improvement Fund and should allow the impact of operational scenarios on capacity and performance to be understood much more quickly than by using conventional methods.