Press-center
The key event of the third day of the International Railway Fair EXPO 1520 was the 5th International Forum “Transport Science: Innovative Solutions for Business”
The 5th International Forum “Transport Science: Innovative Solutions for Business” took place on September 1, on the third day of operation of EXPO 1520 fair and was a major event of the day. The forum focused on testing railway equipment to secure its reliability and efficiency.
The participants of the plenary session that took place under the slogan “Testing railway equipment – various experience, effective solutions, and innovative prospects” discussed a wide range of topics connected with testing railway equipment, its quality and proper scientific support, efficiency of long-term collaboration of railway equipment producers and testing fields, comprehensive testing of infrastructure and rolling stock, and its staffing. They also listened to the reports by foreign speakers.
The chairman of the United Scientific Union of JSC RZD Boris Lapidus, the moderator of the plenary session, pointed out during his speech that with appearance of new technologies and digitalization of transport we have to reconsider the optimal length of transport lifecycle: “Earlier on we advocated long life cycles, and equipment had to work for as long as possible. Today this concept is being changed. Technological cycles get faster, and it does not seem right to design rolling stock with 40 years of service period. In Japan high-speed trains have 15-year-long life cycles, because by the end of this period new equipment and management systems are likely to appear”.
The head of Siemens research center Oliver Hagemann spoke at the plenary session about the future of railways: “New technologies demand adaptation of production capacities. In the future we’ll see autonomous railways and super-controllable transport. We have to be ready for it.” Sergey Kobzev, RZD senior vice-president and chief engineer, pointed out the importance of adaptation of the industrial complex to the new reality: “In view of growing competition in the internal and global market of transport services, railways have to constantly change increasing the efficiency of its operations, and industry-specific complexes are to play a key role in this process”.
The Forum “Transport Science: Innovative Solutions for Business” went on with a round table “Modeling: an Alternative or an Addition to Testing”. The delegates were able to express their opinions about advantages and disadvantages of mathematical modeling used to evaluate the parameters of railway equipment, various combinations of tests and modeling, and selection of optimal modeling methods in order to assess railway infrastructure and rolling stock.
The 6th International Fair of the Railway Equipment and Technologies will be held at the VNIIZhT Experimental Ring in Sherbinka, Moscow, on 30 August - 2 September 2017.
EXPO 1520 is Europe’s unique and only fair of railway equipment and technology for the “wide” gauge space. The exhibition showcases the latest rolling stock, railway machinery, components and equipment manufactured in Russia, the CIS and the EU. The 2013 exhibition made it into the Guinness Book of Records in terms of the number of real-life railway equipment exhibits (127) put on display in Eastern Europe.
The fair’s highlight is a dynamic demonstration of the full range of operating characteristics of Russian and foreign-made locomotives and rolling stock. The venue is outfitted with special grandstands for convenient viewing of equipment in motion.
The fair’s audience consists of executives and specialists of Russian and international manufacturers and operators of railway equipment from both “narrow” and “wide” gauge countries.
General Partner: Russian Railways
Organiser: Business Dialogue