Third Wheel Detection Forum 2015
Image courtesy of Wheel Detection Forum
Railway experts, leading operators, wheel sensor manufacturers and system integrators from 34 countries took part in the third Wheel Detection Forum in Vienna from 30th September to 2nd October, 2015.
A leger network evening kicked the conference off, and all visitors took the chance to network and share information and expertise. One of the four keynote speakers was Max Schubert who asserted that Deutsche Bahn advocated that Distributed Acoustic Sensing is the future of wheel detection. This caused some controversy and dominated the debate for the remainder of the forum.
After the last panel, Michael Thiel, CEO Frauscher Sensor Technology, said:
We have to share our experiences from different perspectives, from all markets and from all stakeholders operators, system integrators, consultants, railway authorities as well as sensor and axle counter manufacturer. This is the only way to develop the next level of train control system. This is what makes the Wheel Detection Forum, its topics and output unique and so important. There are numerous conferences all over the globe, discussing signalling on a more general level – ETCS, ERTMS, PTC and related but none of these events is focussing directly on the requirements, conditions and challenges on track.
On Thursday, there were 13 presentations by international speakers across four panels, each one followed by a podium discussion on high availability, communication over open networks, level crossing solutions and wheel sensor applications.
On Thursday evening there was a gala event in the Vienna Technical Museum. Discussion and debate continued over dinner amid priceless artefacts. Friday was dominated by speakers and visitors attending three technical sites in Vienna, giving attendees an opportunity to see historical and modern railway institutions.
With lectures, international participation, professional organisation and outstanding side events, the Wheel Detection Forum 2015 was the most successful to date.
