today 141
today 141
The 24th International Convention of the Working Committee on Railway Technology of the Austrian Society for Traffic and Transport Science (ÖVG) placed the focus on technology, efficiency, environment, and future experts. Participants from all over the world attended the programme. Presentations from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the USA, India, and Mexico highlighted marked contrasts in the diversity of the rail.
The ÖBB wishes to double its capacity by 2040. The very first presentation focused on “highly available permanent way”: by optimizing logistics planning, the production performance of railway construction increases. However, performance has many facets: Stephen Ashmore presented the 32,452 miles which make up the Union Pacific railroad network. There, the consequences of climate change require new forms of monitoring with regard to earthquakes, fires, and landslides. Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) are India’s answer to capacity limits, with axle loads of up to 32.5 t. In Mexico, the Tren Maya project involves 1,500 km of new tracks on the Yucatán Peninsula.
In the Future Experts part of the programme, three young scientists presented innovative start-up concepts for automation and gaining information.
Extensive digitalization measures are unavoidable and in some cases already established. Nevertheless, people play a crucial role in the maintenance of railway tracks. Increasingly, it is a matter of supporting important stakeholders, such as district inspectors, with new tools. The demonstration of automated turnout inspection can be found here in this issue.
The 24th International Convention of the Working Committee on Railway Technology provided a perfect platform to address the challenges.
