It was our pleasure to hold Rail Technology Conferences 2012 in Amstelveen, the Netherlands on 24 and 25 April 2012. On these days we focussed on two main themes: Life Cycle Management (24 April) and High Frequency Operations (25 April) which are partly interrelated.


Life Cycle Management

The value and importance of Life Cycle Management (LCM) is increasing rapidly. Since the last successful conference on this topic in December 2009 even more dimensions have to be taken into account. Especially the balance between LCM and cost efficiency are points of interest and discussion. Investments for infrastructure and rolling stock need to be balanced while considering the decision chain and their makers. Also the optimisation of LCM asks for more attention.


High Frequency Operations

With increasing freight and passenger transport capacity, many networks are transforming into High Frequency Operations (HFO). Consequently we are facing numerous challenges. Priorities in capacity management need to be addressed and demands of maintenance and renewal of material need to be tackled. It is crucial to investigate the potential of new technologies and consider the strain increased operations place on the environment.