– During international conferences on Rail Technology on 24 and 25 April 2012 –

In about two weeks’ time, international rail experts will gather in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. They will meet on 24 and 25 April during Rail Technology Conferences 2012. The fourth edition of these conferences will address the themes: Life Cycle Management (LCM) and High Frequency Operations (HFO). These two topics are on top of the agendas of many national railway operators. They are relevant and important issues in the context of increasing costs and an ever changing frequency in rail operations. During the conference on 24 April, findings of the European Railway Agency’s new study: ‘Benchmarking European railways technical efficiency’ will be presented for the first time. Rail Technology Conferences are being organised by Europoint Rail Technology Conferences & Exhibitions in a partnership with the rail consultancy company, Bosch Spoor; both residing in the Netherlands. The event is supported by UEEIV, the European railroad engineer association.

Life Cycle Management – 24 April

The first conference day will focus entirely on Life Cycle Management (LCM). Since the last successful conference on this topic in December 2009, the value and importance of LCM has increased rapidly and even more dimensions have to be taken into account. Especially the balance between LCM and cost efficiency are points of interest and discussion.

Therefore, the organisers are proud to announce that Ernest Godward, Project Officer of the European Railway Agency (ERA), will kick-start Rail Technology Conferences 2012 by presenting the first findings of ERA’s new study: Benchmarking European railways technical efficiency.

Also contributing to the conference is Diederik Schonebaum, Chief Operating Officer at Strukton Rail. He will speak about the company’s experiences with maintenance cultures across Europe. Other speakers also include Peter Veit, Professor at Graz University, Heinrich Höfler, Deputy Director Fraunhofer IPM and Jens Hartmann, Director Infrastructure Technology DB Netz AG and more.

High Frequency Operations – 25 April

The second conference day will highlight High Frequency Operations (HFO). With increasing freight and passenger transport capacity, many networks are transforming into HFO. Consequently numerous challenges have to be addressed, such as priorities in capacity management, demands of maintenance, renewal of material and the effects on the environment.

The organisers are proud to welcome Prof Andrew McNaughton, Technical Director of High Speed Two Ltd. He will speak about Britain’s plan for the very high capacity high speed line High Speed Two. High Speed Two is being developed as the backbone of long distance rail. It is about achieving new capacities and bringing Britain’s cities closer together. Prof McNaughton will speak about the operational and technical specification to operate the new line.

Another expert Rail Technology Conferences 2012 welcomes this day is Dave Ward, Route Manager East Anglia for Network Rail. Dave will address the challenges for rail capacity in London during the Olympic games this summer. These challenges include infrastructure schemes, station rebuilds and other preparations for the sports event of the year.

Other speakers also include Bernd Asmussen, Project Manager UIC c/o DB Systemtechnik GmbH, Thomas Vogel, Head of Time Slot Management SBB Infrastruktur and Marc Antoni, Head Of Technological Innovations And Economic Studies at SNCF.

The organisers aim to reach a successful interaction in April between speakers, industry stakeholders and other delegates, resulting in sharing best practices and effective progress on these specific and important rail issues.