Administration

President Kumagai Delivers a Keynote speech on RTRI’s Research Activities at a Conference Hosted by IMechE of the U.K.

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April 24, 2015
Railway Technical Research Institute

Dr. Norimichi Kumagai, President of RTRI, delivered a keynote speech on Japanese railway technologies and RTRI’s contribution at the Stephenson Conference held in London from April 21 to 23.

The organizer of this conference, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers of the United Kingdom is an academic organization in the field of mechanical engineering and was founded in 1847 by George Stephenson, the Father of Railways. The Railway Division is one of the eight technical fields covered by the institution. This conference, named after George Stephenson, is a rather new event which has been organized by the Railway Division and focuses on research and development mainly for railway rolling stock. At this year’s conference, about 150 participants gathered from 70 organizations, among which are rail-related organizations represented by RSSB (Railway Safety Standards Board of UK), Network Rail of UK, German Railways, and TTCI (Transportation Technology Center Inc.), universities distinguished in rail research such as Politecnico di Milano and the University of Sheffield, and world’s major vehicle manufacturers. In addition, several rail-related media outlets have supported this conference.

As keynote speakers, Network Rail’s Chairman, Mr. Richard Parry Jones, and RSSB’s CEO, Mr. Chris Fenton made speeches as well as Dr. Kumagai. At technical sessions, 80 presentations were made and two of them were by Japanese researchers including Mr. Takayuki Tanaka from RTRI’s Vehicle Mechanics Section.

In his speech, Dr. Kumagai reviewed the development process of Japanese railways and their contribution to Japanese society and economy, and then explained the role of RTRI in railway technical development before and after the privatization of the Japanese National Railways, with special focus on its contribution to the development of Shinkansen technologies. In particular, giving examples of actual techniques already used for train operations, he introduced RTRI’s research into anti-earthquake measures to attain safer railway systems and the efforts to address trackside environmental issues and energy saving measures to realize sustainable railways. He concluded his speech by stating that we are determined to continue our endeavor in technical development toward further advancement of railway systems and the society, and emphasizing that, for this goal, global coordination and cooperation are essential.

In the Q&A session which followed his speech, the participants showed a lot of interest in Japanese rail technologies and RTRI’s technical developments, and questions were asked about cost reduction in railway operation and energy consumption of MAGLEV systems.


* You can see all the photos and figures in the PDF file above.