Topic: Intelligent Rail Summit 2018

IT solutions become crucial for development of railway infrastructure

The railway industry becomes more and more interrelated with IT solutions. Several European countries have already implemented some, while others are just thinking about it. What are the…
Railway operators and track managers join forces in infrastructure measuring

Railway infrastructure monitoring becomes more and more sophisticated. Infrastructure managers analyse not only the conditions of the rails but also the trains running on it. Sometimes, infrastructure managers…
‘Railway companies have to share information to move forward’

Voestalpine’s Metal Engineering Division has been restructured. As of April 1, 2018. the Rail, Turnout Systems and Signalling Technology business segments were officially regrouped under the ‘Railway Systems’…
TU Vienna creates model to predict service life for tram infrastructure

Until recently, Viennese tram operator Wiener Linien had no centralized database containing net-wide infrastructure data. After implementing an infrastructure database, the operator is now working with the Technical…
‘International rail sector can learn a lot from Scandinavian rail companies’

The international rail sector can learn a lot by looking at Scandinavian rail companies, says Peter Boom from Voestalpine Signaling. “In Scandinavia, they like to use new technologies…
‘Digitalisation is challenging but crucial for the railway sector’

“Digitalisation is a very challenging topic for the railway sector, but I think it can ultimately revolutionise the sector,” Johannes Neuhold from the Graz University of Technology argues.…
‘Regulations block optimal use of big data’

Much more can be done with data than is currently the case, but regulations get in the way, says Sytse Bisschop from Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail. Data can…
‘Use machine learning to predict track maintenance’

Machine learning is an important asset to predict where track maintenance will be needed, Dirk Bothof of Asset Insight says. Machine learning is an artificial intelligence technique that…
TU Graz is using acoustic waves to detect track failures

Graz University of Technology wants to use acoustic waves to detect track failures and worn components. In many countries, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is already being used to identify…
‘The Netherlands can perform as well as Japan by simplifying its rail network’

If the Netherlands wants its rail network to perform as well as Japan, the impact of disruptions on the track must be reduced. That can be done by…
‘Combine data with observations and physics for track maintenance’

“Data only acquires meaning when it is combined with physical observations and models. Then it becomes information”, says Diego Galar, Professor of Condition Monitoring at LuleĂ„ University of…
‘Railway sector must face challenge of loss of expertise with digitalisation’

All over the world, human resource management strategies have lead to a loss of experts in the field of railway infrastructure management, according to Johannes Neuhold and Matthias Landgraf at…
‘It is important to know where, when and how to maintain the tracks’

As the tracks are being used more and more worldwide, the timeframe in which the infrastructure can be serviced becomes shorter. Especially on busy tracks, it is no…
Dutch infrastructure manager wants sector to profit from its data

ProRail collects a lot of data on rolling stock via its Wayside Train Monitoring Systems (WTMS). The Dutch infrastructure manager is calling on the rail sector to make…
‘Every section of the track should have its own Facebook page’

Digitalisation is fundamental for asset management in the rail sector, as it makes it possible to share information about track sections, ‘the assets’, with everyone. “Really, every track…