All aboard for rail events

This week’s Briefing takes to the tracks with events in central England addressing the needs of the railway industry.

Railtex meets in Birmingham this year and over 460 companies engaged in railway equipment, systems and services will be in attendance from May 12-14 to meet and do business with the engineers, managers and buyers helping to keep rail networks operational.

The event, being held at Birmingham NEC and claimed to be the largest of its kind for over a decade, features a supporting programme of keynote speeches by industry leaders, seminars and briefings, project updates and discussion groups.

The venue will host The Track, which as the name suggests, is two lengths of track where suppliers can display their products in situ and carry out demonstrations.

Similarly, a Knowledge Hub at the biennial event will host seminars and keynote addresses, including contributions from Richard Price, chief executive at the Office of Rail Regulation, and Jeremy Long, European CEO of MTR Corporation, which was chosen last year to run the London’s Crossrail services under a contract worth £1.4bn.

Mabey Hire’s newly launched Monitoring & Control team will be on stand V91 to showcase their capabilities in developing and delivering new monitoring and control technologies to market. Likewise, ESG will be on showcasing its expertise in Driver Advisory System (DAS) integration and will have a Cubris GreenSpeed DAS demonstration unit on stand T12.

Entry to the exhibition and its associated supporting activities is free for visitors who’ve already pre-registered via www.railtex.co.uk.  Pre-Registration closes at midnight tonight

In the east Midlands, engineering simulation specialists ANSYS are holding a seminar this week looking at mechanical engineering and simulation in the rail industry.

They say that simulation is crucial in in the development of railway systems and platforms including the proposed High Speed Two (H2) network in Britain.

Elsewhere, they say, simulation is involved in electrification that is helping to transform the railway and provide the UK with a sustainable, world-class transport system, and as part of the introduction of new rolling stock including the Hitachi Express Train.  Elsewhere, the technology is at play with radical design changes.

Subjects to be covered at the event in Derby include: shaping the railway industry using engineering simulation tools, rail transportation applications developed using SCADE, and using simulation software to better your design customer case studies.

The event takes place tomorrow at The Roundhouse, Derby.

According to the Institution of Civil Engineers one in six properties are at risk from flooding, and that annual flood damage costs are expected to rise to £27bn by 2080.

Christmas 2013 served to remind of the abject misery that is brought about by flooding and this week ICE brings together leading figures in flooding to discuss this increasingly costly problem.

ICE Flooding 2015: Future Proofing for Business and Communities will be chaired by ICE president Prof David Balmforth and former ICE president Dr Jean Venables CBE who - along with representatives from the Environment Agency, UK water and sewerage companies, and local and central governments - will share insights on the future of UK flood defences, and discuss the best ways to adapt infrastructure, homes and businesses to an increasingly volatile climate.

According to ICE, they will also scrutinise government’s current position and commitment to funding for flood risk management, and encourage delegates to challenge how and where to implement flood risk management schemes.

ICE Flooding 2015 Conference takes place on 13 May 2015 at the Royal Garden Hotel, London.