Organised by SNCF Réseau and the UIC, with the support of Network Rail and the University of Birmingham, the fifth edition of the Harmotrack Project Plenary Meeting aims to spotlight the success of international collaboration among railway experts engaging to reach the goals of the Harmotrack project.
Bringing together more than 75 member companies and institutions with more than 200 international railway experts. It is present in more than 40 countries from 6 continents all around the globe. The Harmotrack Project aims to define future international technical specifications or recommendations on the use of dynamic measurements, mainly on accelerations, for track monitoring and maintenance cost reduction.
The fifth plenary meeting will highlight roundtable discussions, technical sessions with Harmotrack experts, and technical visits led by Network Rail and the University of Birmingham. This year’s roundtable discussion will feature high-level speakers coming from major global regions to tackle the challenges of railway operations, R&D, and innovation.
Roundtable 1 – How Research, Development and Innovation is changing maintenance activities and regimes
Challenges in safety and safe systems of work implementation, as a result of reduced access to maintain the network is leading to research and development into automated inspection and repair techniques. How is automation and data analysis is improving the maintenance regime, to improve safety and reduce service affecting failures.
• Yann Bezin, Professor and Head of Research of the Institute for Railway Research (IRR) at University of Huddersfield – UK;
• Martin Brennan, Special Advisor on Research and Innovation at UIC – International;
• Anup Chalisey, Professional Head of Infrastructure at RSSB – UK;
• Dingqing Li, Executive Director, Engineering Infrastructure Group at MxV Rail (formerly TTCI) – USA.
Roundtable 2 – The importance of technology implementation in enhancing the operational railway
The introduction of technology into the rail industry has fell behind other industries. How important is the introduction of technology to enable significant improvements in passenger and freight experience? The has been a focus change in the usage of the rail as a result of the pandemic, with reduced commuting, but increased leisure use, how can technology be deployed to support these changes and enhance the passenger experience.
• Robert Ampomah, Chief Technology Officer at Network Rail – UK;
• Marco Gallini, Head of the Mobile Diagnostics and Maintenance Vehicles Department at RFI – Italy;
• Thomas Joindot, Technical Director at SNCF Réseau – France.
The roundtable discussions will be moderated by David Briginshaw (International Railway Journal).
Following the roundtable discussion, special technical session led by our own members and international experts, Mani Entezami (University of Birmingham), Russell Licence (Network Rail), Sin Sin Hsu (Network Rail), and Danilo Sorrentino (SNCF Réseau) will take into place.
The afternoon session will feature technical discussions led by the SWG Leaders of the Harmotrack project. Since the creation of the project, SWGs have reached significant milestones and it is rather important to celebrate each milestone of the groups.
• SWG1-A: Study of correlation between forces and accelerations – Fatih Ünlü (SBB CFF FFS)
• SWG1-B Alpha: Study of filters – Fulvio Cianci (RFI) & Hakkı Küçükkeskin (TCDD)
• SWG1-B Beta 1: Study of most dangerous combination of track geometry defects – Ali Tajaddini (FRA), Raphael Marotta (VLI Logística) & Brian Marquis (VOLPE)
• SWG1-B Beta 2: Study of correlations between accelerations and track geometry using statistical analysis – Danilo Sorrentino, Florian Latestere (SNCF Réseau), Emily Greve & David Stolnis (Amtrak), Dominik Rudisch (Technische Universität München)
• SWG1-B Beta 3: Detection of track geometry defects using machine learning techniques – Alfonso Panunzio (RATP) & Cassandre Diaine (SNCF Réseau)
• SWG1-B Gamma: Study of occurrences and risk analysis, transferring thresholds from reference vehicle to different vehicle and speeds – Nicolas Lestoille (SNCF Réseau) & Maciej Pałyga (PKP PLK S.A.)
• SWG2: Optimal use of axle box accelerations for the detection of short length defects – Stanislaw Banaszak (SBB CFF FFS), Olivier Vo Van (SNCF), Claudio Somaschini & Egidio Di Gialleonardo (Politecnico di Milano)
• SWG3: Use of innovative and cheap devices – Franck Dadié (SNCF Réseau)
Furthermore, technical visits led by Network Rail and the University of Birmingham will be held on the second day of the event. The technical visits include the following locations:
Network Rail Infrastructure Monitoring Fleet – Loram UK
• Located 10 minutes from the centre of Derby in the East Midlands, England, the Rail Technical Centre (RTC) is home to Loram UK where Network Rail’s Infrastructure Monitoring Vehicles are maintained. A hosted tour showcasing some of Network Rails Infrastructure Monitoring vehicles, where the equipment can be seen in a static, safe environment will be featured.
New Measurement Train (NMT) – Network Rail
• The New Measurement Train is Network Rail’s flagship monitoring vehicle. It comprises of Track Geometry, OHL, Radio Survey, laser sweeping and a multitude of Visual imagery capabilities. The live measurement run will take you on board the vehicle allowing you to experience infrastructure monitoring at up to 125mph from Derby Railway Station alighting at London Euston.
Experiments Laboratory – MTC
• The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is located in Coventry, England and was established in 2010 as an independent Research & Technology Organisation (RTO) with the objective of bridging the gap between academia and industry. The MTC supports Network Rail significantly in current and future R&D.
UKKRIN – University of Huddersfield
• The University of Huddersfield – situated in Huddersfield, England supports Network Rail with Vehicle/track interaction projects. With a state-of-the-art simulator, planning on providing significant insight into ride quality, the University of Huddersfield have a number of laboratories and extensive test facility to showcase R&D in the rail sector.
UKKRIN – Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education
• BCRRE is Europe’s largest academic-based group that provides world-class research, education, and innovation to the global rail industry. With a tour route of approximately one hour long, simulation and timetable modelling laboratories plus Switches & Crossings, Power Electronics, Robotics and Pantograph testing facilities are to be demonstrated.
Here is a little preview of in some of our facilities for the technical visit!
For further information please contact Mr. Danilo Sorrentino, Head of Vehicle-Track interaction section at SNCF Réseau, at danilo.sorrentino@reseau.sncf.fr or the Harmotrack Management Team at harmotrack@reseau.sncf.fr
