Special Sessions

01: Accident Analysis and Safety Technologies
Prof. Akira Matsumoto, Nihon University, Japan; Prof. Hideo Nakamura, Nihon University, Japan
Prof. Yung-Cheng Lai, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

02: Geotechnical Aspects in Rail-Track Performance
Prof. António Gomes Correia, University of Minho, Portugal; Prof. Peter Woodward, University of Leeds, UK; Dr. Amine Dhemaied, SNCF Réseau, France; Dr. Yoshitsugu Momoya, Railway Technical Research Institute, Japan,

03: Pantograph-Catenary Interaction
Prof. Jorge Ambrósio, Instituto Superior Técnico,  University of Lisbon, Portugal; Dr. Alan Facchinetti, Politecnico di Milano, Italy; Prof. Anders Rønnquist, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway; Dr. Pedro Antunes, University of Huddersfield, UK

04: Switches and Crossings Developments
Dr. Valeri Markine, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands; Prof. Elias Kassa, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway; Dr. Yann Bezin, University of Huddersfield, UK

05: Dynamics of Railway Bridges
Prof. Rui Calçada, University of Porto, Portugal; Prof. José Goicolea, Technical University of Madrid, Spain; Prof. Raid Karoumi, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden; Prof. Anders Rønnquist, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway; Prof. Pedro Museros Romero, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain,

06: MAGLEV Systems: Modelling and Control
Prof. Werner Schiehlen, University of Stuttgart, Germany; Dr. Florian Dignath, Thyssenkrupp Transrapid GmbH, Germany,

07: Traction and Braking: Control,  Safety and Energy Recovery
Prof. Paul Allen, University of Huddersfield, UK; Prof. Jian-Yong Zuo, Tongji University, China; 
Dr. Hamid Alturbeh, University of Huddersfield, UK,

08: Assessment of the Structural and Geotechnical Behaviour of the Railway Track: Characterisation,  Modelling and Monitoring; Prof. Eduardo Fortunato, Nacional Laboratory of Civil Engineering, Portugal; Prof. Liedi Bernucci, University of São Paulo, Brazil,

09: Personal Rapid Transit Systems
Prof. Efrén Díez Jiménez, University of Alcalá, Spain

10: Hyperloop Technology
Dr. Daniel Toth, Continuum Industries, UK

11: Integrated Safety Management System in Rail Transport
Prof. Marek Sitarz, WSB University, Poland; Prof. Adam Prokopowicz, Institute of Global Innovation, Economics and Logistics, USA

12: Railway Infrastructure Maintenance and Inspection
Dr. Javier Royo, Ferrovial Agroman, Spain; Dr. Ignacio Jardi, Ferrovial Agroman, Spain,

13: Inter-Modal Traffic,  Terminals and Logistics
Prof. Stefano Ricci, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy; Dr. Armando Carrillo, EURNEX Association, Belgium; Prof. Nebojsa Bojovic, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Dr. Milos Milenkovic, University of Belgrade, Serbia

14: Vibration analysis of moving load problems with particular emphasis on analytical and semi-analytical solutions - from modelling to railway applications
Prof. Piotr Koziol, Cracow University of Technology, Poland; Prof. Zuzana Dimitrovová, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal

15: Virtual Coupling of Trains
Dr. Joachim Winter, DLR - German Aerospace Center, Germany

16: Trackbed Design and Maintenance
Prof. Guoqing Jing, Beijing Jiaotong University, China; Prof. Mingjing Fang, Wuhan University of Technology, China

17: Railway Signalling and Safety
Dr. Xiaocheng Ge, University of Huddersfield, UK

18: Light Railway Vehicles and Tramway Systems
Dr. Bartosz Firlik, Poznań University of Technology, Poland

19: Future Trends in Railway Transport
Prof. Luigi Dell´Olio, Universidad de Cantabria, Spain

20: Train Aerodynamics
Dr. James Bell, German Aerospace Center, Germany; Prof. Sinisa Krajnovic, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; Dr. Hassan Hemida, University of Birmingham, UK; Prof. Guowei Yang, Institute of Mechanics Chinese Academy Sciences, China

21: Track Stiffness and Transition Zones: Problems, Solutions and Further Research
Dr. Yann Bezin, University of Huddersfield, UK; Dr. Roberto Sañudo Ortega, University of Cantabria, Spain; Dr. Louis Le Pen, University of Southampton, UK; Dr. José Varandas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal; Dr. Karel van Dalen, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

22: Track Structure Components and Materials Technology: Design, Monitoring and Maintenance
Dr. Sakdirat Kaewunruen, University of Birmingham, UK; Dr. Makoto Ishida, Nippon Koei Co., LTD., Japan; Prof. Alex Remennikov, University of Wollongong, Australia; Prof. José Casado, University of Cantabria, Spain

23: Wheel-Rail Interaction: Tribology, Degradation, Monitoring, Maintenance, Modelling and Validation
Prof. Roger Lewis, University of Sheffield, UK; Dr. Makoto Ishida, Nippon Koei Co., LTD, Japan; Dr. Michaël Steenbergen, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands; Dr. Klaus Six, Virtual Vehicle Research Center, Austria; Prof. Zili Li, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands; Dr. Zhen Yang, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

24: Railway Noise and Vibration
Prof. Georges Kouroussis, Université de Mons, Belgium; Prof. Xiaozhen Sheng, Southwest Jiaotong University, China; Prof. Ricardo Carrazedo, University of São Paulo, Brazil; Prof. Cláudius de Sousa Barbosa, University of São Paulo, Brazil

25: Railway Transport Design, Operations Planning/Management and Service Optimisation
Prof. Ralf Borndörfer, Zuse-Institute Berlin, Germany; Dr. Thomas Schlechte, LBW Optimization GmbH, Germany; Dr. Niels Lindner, Zuse-Institute Berlin, Germany

26: Predictive Diagnostics and Modelling of Electric Systems and Components in Railway Industry
Prof. Sami Barmada, University of Pisa, Italy; Prof. Mauro Tucci, University of Pisa, Italy

27: Tribology and Bearing Technologies
Prof. Constantine Tarawneh, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA

28: Test Rigs for Railway Systems
Dr. Jan  Kalivoda, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic; Dr. Yohei Michitsuji, Ibaraki University, Japan

29: Modelling, Tests and Monitoring of Thermal Buckling on Continuous Welded Rails
Dr. Giovanni Pio Pucillo, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

30: Health/Condition Monitoring and Maintenance Management
Dr. Richard Loendersloot, University of Twente, The Netherlands

31: Modelling, Control, Optimization and Maintenance of Traction Power Systems in Electrified Railways
Prof. Zhigang Liu, Southwest Jiaotong University, China; Dr. Yang Song, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

32: High-Speed Railways – Policy, Planning, Technology, Management and Research
Prof. Nikhil Bugalia, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India; Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India; Prof. Sudhir Misra, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India; Dr. K. E. Seetharam, Asian Development Bank Institute, Tokyo, Japan

33. Signalling Systems and Performance of Train Operations
Prof. Pradip Ray, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India