Railway Forum Sofia

8-9 November 2024

RAILWAY FORUM 2024

THE FUTURE OF RAILWAY INTEROPERABILITY:

25 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES WITH TSI

Dates: 8 – 9 November 2024

Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Organizers:

Union of European Railway Engineer Associations (UEEIV)

Scientific and Technical Union for Transport (WTVV)

National Guild Society of Railway Track Engineers (NGSRTE)

TOPICS

  • next steps of optimization of ECTS, optimization of radio communication
  • Interoperability throughout different countries
  • night trains, train operation
  • how to meet the expectation for sustainability
  • solutions to increase capacity:
    • build new lines
    • add a second track
    • double decker trains
    • improve signalling systems
    • ERTMS, ECTS
    • Night trains

MOTIVATION AND GOAL OF THE CONFERENCE

We invite you to participate in the RAILWAY FORUM 2024 which is organized by the Union of European Railway Engineer Associations (UEEIV) in cooperation with our Bulgarian Member Associations, the Scientific and Technical Union for Transport (WTVV) and the National Guild Society of Railway Track Engineers (NGSRTE).

We have deliberately chosen Sofia as a location to widen our horizon and improve international networking.

The topic is very relevant on a European level: The future of Railway Interoperability.

Working together on commons solutions for all European countries will be the key to meet the young generations wish for sustainable travel throughout Europe and there is still a long way to go.

As modern Railway engineers we have a great responsibility to make the expansion of the route network and interoperability possible with our technical innovations and solutions.

In the UEEIV, we have accepted this challenge and made it our goal to move a step forward at the Railway Forum 2024.

We will give you an overview of what has been done so far in the past decades to improve the interoperability and what future strategies may be.

You are invited you to take part in this task and present your experiences, views and innovative strategies at the Railway Forum 2024.

We are looking forward to your participation!

PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME

8 November:

8:30 -09:30 Registration
09:30 -09:40 OPENING CEREMONY
Dipl.-Ing. Olaf Scholtz-Knobloch – UEEIV President
Dipl. Eng. Antoaneta Georgieva – NGSRTE Chairman
Dipl. Eng. Yasen Ishev – STUT Chairman
09.40 – 10.00 WELCOMING
Georgi Gvozdeikov – Minister of Transport and Communications
Dipl. Eng. Olaf Scholtz-Knobloch – UEEIV President
Dipl. Eng. Prof. Ivan Iachev – FSTUB Chairman
 10.00 – 12.00    FIRST SESSION
Moderators:       
Dipl.-Ing. Olaf Scholtz-Knobloch, UEEIV (D)
Dipl. Eng. Yasen Ishev, WTVV (BG)
10.00 – 10.20 TSI from ERA’s perspective
Desislava DIMITROVA
ERA Research Coordinator (F)
10.20 – 10.50 Railway interoperability – from the past to the present
Dipl.-Ing. Rudolf KOLLER (A)
10.50 – 11.20  Railway infrastructure projects – 2030 horizon
Dipl. Eng. Maria Genova
SE NRIC Managing Director (BG)
11.20 – 11.50 Presentation Title tbc
Michael Walter
ÖBB, Member of ERA working group (A)
11:50 – 12:00 Q&A Session and podium discussion for session 1
12.00 – 13.00    LUNCH BREAK & NETWORKING
13.00  – 15.10   SECOND SESSION
Moderators:
Prof. Dr. Eng Mario Galabov, UEEIV (BG)
Dipl. Eng. Antoaneta Georgieva, NGSRTE (BG)​
13.00 – 13.30 Modernization and restructuring strategy of Holding BDZ as the national railway operatorprojects – 2030 horizon
Dipl. Eng. Georgi Drumev
HOLDING BDZ INC Managing Director (BG)
13.30 – 14.00 Strategy for the Introduction of TSI in the Bulgarian Railway System
Mr. Lyuben Nanov
Director of Executive Agency Railway Administration  (BG)
14.00 – 14.30 Railway interoperability – problems, solutions development
Gergana Karaalanova
General Manager, TINSA (BG)
14.30 – 15.00 New role, new reality
How the increasing digitalization (Virtual Reality) asks for new roles and rules

Markus Bolli
Suprexa AG (CH)
15:00 – 15:10 Q&A Session and podium discussion for session 2
15.10 – 15.40      COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
15.40  – 17.50 THIRD SESSION
Moderators:       
Dr. Dipl. Eng. Bernhard Knoll, UEEIV (A)
Dipl. Eng. Ivo Yanakiev, NGSTRE (BG)
15.40 – 16.10 Exchange of best practices as catalyst for interoperability
Dipl. Eng. Marco Corradini
Specialist in Control and Coordination, SBB (CH)
16.10 – 16.40 Presentation title tbc
Prof. hc, Prof. Georg Brügger
Freelance Consultant
16.40 ­-  17.10 Presentation on night trains
Speaker tbc
17.10 ­-  17.40 Maximum track availability despite cost optimization
Prof. Dr. techn. MSc. Ferdinand Pospischil, Getzner Werkstoffe GmbH (A)
Dipl. Eng. Andreas Wenz, Railway Infrastructure Design Institut – Graz (A)​
17:40-17:50 Q&A Session and podium discussion for session 3

9 November:

9:30 – 12:00 Technical excursion: Modernization of railway section Elin Pelin-Kostenetz
12:00 -13:00 Lunch
13:00 -14:00 Travel back to Sofia

REGISTRATION FEES

UEEIV Member* Non-Member
Onsite Online Onsite Online
Regular 175 € 100 € 245 € 150 €
Students under 27* 150 € 80 € 175 € 100 €
Delegate of Government Institution* 150 € 80 € 175 € 100 €

including coffee break and lunch during conference and one networking dinner

*UEEIV Members need to submit proof of membership from their Association

*Students are required to submit proof of affiliation with a University

*Delegate of Government Insitutions are required to submit proof of employment with a Government Institution

The above mentioned fees are exclusive of VAT. The UEEIV is an association and organizes this conference without any intention of profit. VAT does not apply.

Register here

    Railway Forum 2024 registration form

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    HOTELS

    HOTEL RILA
    Website: https://hotelrila.bg
    6 Tsar Kaloyan Str., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
    Email: reservations@hotelrila.bg
    Tel: +359 884 797969

    Economy double room for single occupancy – 114 BGN
    Economy double room with 2 separate beds – 137 BGN
    *Price is per room, per day and includes accommodation, buffet breakfast, Wi-Fi internet, city tax and VAT

    Please make your reservation directly with the hotel indicating the code word: UEEIV Railway Forum. The price will be valid as long as there is availability.

    SPONSORING & EXHIBITION

    We offer the option to book an exbihition stand, programme insert, sponsored presentations, etc.

    If you are interesting in sponsoring options, please contact us at sekretariat@ueeiv.eu

    Copyright information

    Fotos left side:
    Gotthard tunnel – © Alptransit
    Switches – © Bernhard Knoll
    Railtrack workers – © Bernhard Knoll
    Overlooking Channel tunnel entrance – panoramio.jpg © Wikimedia commons

    Fotos right side:
    Nightjet – © Harald Eisenberger
    Signalling Lötschberg tunnel – © Daniel Wirth
    Tracks and tunnel – © Bernhard Knoll
    Royal Border Bridge – © 2024 Network Rail
    Brenner base tunnel, Isarco river underpass construction – © 2024 – Galleria di Base del Brennero – Brenner Basistunnel BBT SE

    Bottom:
    ÖBB Rail Checker – © Bernhard Knoll

    Background:
    High Speed Railroad Map of Europe – @ Wikimedia commons

     

     

    Contact

    UEEIV – Union Europäischer Eisenbahn-Ingenieur-Verbände
    Union of European Railway Engineer Associations
    Kaiserstraße 61
    60329 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
    VR: 10234

    Email: sekretariat@ueeiv.eu

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