Tailwind for the railroads: this was the motto of the 27th Annual Conference of Railway Experts, which took place on February 13 and 14, 2025 in Berlin at the Estrel Conference Center. More than 450 experts from across the entire spectrum of rail transport took part on site, with a further 70 participants taking part via livestream. The event focuses on issues relating to the approval, acceptance and licensing of rail vehicles and railroad infrastructure as well as the exchange between the participating organizations, experts and the Federal Railway Authority.
In addition to technical topics such as a summary of the corridor renovation of the Riedbahn and the interaction between bridge structures and trains traveling over them, the plenary day also dealt with overarching issues – not least in view of the upcoming federal elections. The rail transport policy of a new government will be an essential framework condition for the work of all those involved in rail transport in the coming years. This context became particularly clear in the presentations on the management of Deutsche Bahn AG by the Federal Ministry of Transport, the situation of the rail industry in Germany and Deutsche Bahn’s sustainability strategy.
“The most important thing for the efficient use of resources in planning is to see projects through and not start, interrupt and restart them,” said Markus Hennecke, Chairman of the Association of Testing Experts for Structural Verification in Railway Construction, during the panel discussion, which dealt with the omnipresent lack of resources. Jens Müller from DB InfraGO and Axel Schuppe, Managing Director of the German Railway Industry Association, also confirmed that the many railway-specific regulations and high regulatory requirements require long and additional training periods. “We have to start with children to get them excited about the railroads,” said Birgit Milius, Professor at TU Berlin and President of the Association of German Railway Engineers. The panel agreed that stable framework conditions, secure long-term funding and streamlining regulations and processes are the most important prerequisites for building up sufficient resources and keeping them in the railroad system.
After the plenary lectures on the first day of the event, there were three parallel workshops on the second day on the various topics of rolling stock, engineering and building construction as well as control and safety technology. The annual conference of railroad experts is organized by the DVV Media Group with its Eurailpress brand. Due to high demand, the event was held in Berlin for the first time this year, where participants were also offered perfect conditions for discussions outside of the program.
