A record contingent of researchers from the Cooperative Research Centre for Rail (Rail CRC) will converge on Melbourne next week and pack the program for the nation’s major annual Conference on Railway Engineering (CORE).

Rail CRC is headquartered at CQU Rockhampton.

CORE 2006 will be held from Sunday April 30 to Wednesday May 3.

Cementing the leading nature of rail research underway at Rail CRC, more than 15 Rail CRC team members from CQU in Rockhampton, QUT in Brisbane, Monash in Melbourne, University of Wollongong and University of South Australia will present their research to 500 national and international rail industry delegates seeking answers to their rail engineering challenges.

Developing innovative solutions for the rail industry’s major engineering and technical problems, the Rail CRC presentations will cover new technologies such as a new on-board low-cost ‘health card’ to monitor and assess the performance of trains and track and reduce the risk of train derailments; a new fail-safe braking product developed specifically for the Australian market; a new train simulation model and maintenance procedures to save the industry millions of dollars in maintenance costs and new steel for rail wheels and components for better rail performance.

Rail CRC researchers at CQU including Professor Peter Wolfs, Dr Colin Cole, Mr Scott Simson, Dr Fujii Xia, Dr Manicka Dhanasekar and Mr Okwuchi Emereole will make the trek to Melbourne and will join with Rail CRC researchers from around the country to showcase the rail research centre’s success on behalf of the industry.

Rail CRC researchers based at QUT, Monash, University of Wollongong and the University of South Australia will provide their research outcomes to improve the industry’s safety and efficiency when they present about projects such as a new rail safety campaign to reduce the incidence of rail level crossing accidents, a new product to monitor rail noise to identify problem areas (particularly in urban areas) and research which showcases the improvement of rail corridors through the introduction of vegetation near rail tracks, reversing the long-held belief that vegetation near rail tracks was a hazard and cost problem.

According to Rail CRC Chief Executive Officer Professor Dudley Roach, the CORE conference is the major engineering conference on the Australian rail calendar with leading rail executives coming to Melbourne seeking solutions they can implement to improve the efficiency and safety of their rail companies.

“It is fitting that Rail CRC researchers have such an enormous presence at CORE this year, highlighting the leading work we are doing and the results we are producing to benefit Australia’s rail industry,” Professor Roach said.

Photos: CQU's team at work on their Rail CRC research (above) Professor Peter Wolfs (CQU) and Professor Bruce Kuhnell (Monash) from the recent OZ-ECP brake testing in Rockhampton, and (below left to right) CQU's Okwuchi Emereole, Michelle Pearce and Scott Simson with their 'Bogie Rotation Friction Management Project'.