On behalf of the FP7 EU-funded project Capacity4Rail, UIC has the pleasure to invite you to the Final conference that will be hosted by FFE in the “Palacio Fernán Nuñez” in Madrid, Spain on 21-22 September 2017.
Started in October 2013 and ending on 30 September 2017, the Capacity4Rail project is a 4-year collaborative R&D project co-funded by the European Commission within the FP7. Placed under the coordination of UIC, it brings together a wide range of stakeholders, in an ambitious partnership.
The Capacity4Rail (C4R) project aims at bringing today’s railway system to this future vision for 2030/2050.
With this vision, Capacity4Rail main scope has been to offer an affordable increase of capacity, availability and performance to the railway system, by developing a holistic view on the railway as a system of interacting technical components driven by customer demand.
This plan has been addressed by different ways:
- A more efficient use of existing resources, by optimising operating strategies, enhancing traffic planning, improving transshipment procedures and improving automation and operational procedures to reduce the time needed to recover from traffic disruption.
- A reduction of the non-operational capacity-consumers, through the design of resilient, reliable and low-maintenance infrastructure and vehicles, non-intrusive inspection, fast renewal and construction processes.
- An increase of the performance of existing resources, through significant improvements of wagons maneuverability and equipment to answer freight customers’ needs for higher reliability and performance.
This public event is open for experts from all across Europe’s rail infrastructure industry and academia.
Conference highlights
Infrastructure
- New reliable slab-track solutions targeted to the actual and expected railway use and much lower maintenance. Innovative concepts for resilient Switches & Crossings and ground-breaking methods for Very High Speed. Upgrading of infrastructure in order to meet new operation and market demands.
Freight
- Innovations in wagons design, connectivity, terminal design and operations to meet the changing needs of the logistic market leading to the future freight train of 2030 and the vision for 2050.
Operations
- Step-changes for strategic, tactical and operational planning to meet future challenges such as increased capacity, optimized management of emergencies, enhanced information sharing and greater levels of connection between rail and the other transportation modes.
Advanced monitoring
- Innovative concepts, based on innovative sensors, low-current technologies, energy harvesting for power supply and wireless networks, for railway structural and operational monitoring developed to enhance the availability of the track, combined with automated maintenance forecasts and a prediction of the structural lifetime.
- Technical and economical assessment of technologies developed, roadmaps and migration scenarios, necessary to meet the target affordable, adaptable, automated, resilient and high capacity railway system for 2030/ 2050.
During the conference, the speakers will also be pleased to share and discuss their research results with the participants. Ample networking time will also be reserved between the sessions.
Programme and useful information regarding venue and registration will be circulated soon and made available on the project website.
