3 Days 1 Digital Rail Vision.

Mirko Blazic is a railway signalling engineer with extensive experience in signalling standardisation projects. His expertise spans requirements and project management, focusing on harmonisation and standardisation activities at the European level. His current role is the management of the EULYNX Consortium as the Technical Lead.  

Shobhan Chaudhuri is an Engineering graduate and post graduate in Business Management. He is a Signalling and Telecommunications veteran of Indian Railways (IR) and has recently superannuated after heading Northern Railway the biggest zonal railway of the country. During his 36+ yrs of tenure on IR he has worked in all facets of Railroad Transportation and Mass Transit Systems with specialization in execution of infrastructure projects and management of train operations.

As General Manager Northern Railway (biggest zone of Indian Railways with rail network spread over 7300 Route KMs) successfully completed all many major and important infrastructure works including New line in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (including world's highest Cable stay bridge over river Chenab) a step towards rail-linking of Kashmir valley with the rest of the Indian peninsula.

He has attended Executive Development Program in EMLYON Business School, Lyon and Advance Management Program in INSEAD, Singapore. Currently he is working as Advisor/ Research & Development, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Hannes Denil is an experienced team leader and project manager at Infrabel, specializing in product life cycle and interface management. He launched his career as a software engineer at RoomeR bvba in 2012, started working as Signalling Engineer for Infrabel in 2015 and became Team Leader Trackside Signalling Products in 2017 – a position he holds until today. Hannes Denil holds a degree as Master of Science in Industrial Sciences: Electrical Engineering – Major in Automation.

A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IRSE, Darren Dykstra brings over three decades of expertise in railway signalling and systems engineering. With a career spanning British Rail, Siemens, and Network Rail, Darren has played a pivotal role in major infrastructure projects including Crossrail West and ETCS Level 2 deployment from Heathrow to Paddington. Known for his deep technical knowledge and leadership in complex, multidisciplinary engineering environments, Darren currently leads Command and Control Systems Renewals Delivery Engineering efforts in the Wales & Western region. He is a published author, former IRSE committee member, and a passionate advocate for innovation and integration in rail systems engineering.

Sayfeddine Eddous works as a Systems Engineer for SNCF Réseau since 04/2022. He holds a Master’s degree in Complex Systems Engineering from CentraleSupélec – France as well as Mechanical Engineering degree form National Engineering School of Monastir – Tunisia.

Dominik Eger has several years of experience at the interface between operational practice, safety management and digitalisation in the rail environment. Alongside his work as a quality management representative in the field of stand-alone solar systems, he completed a degree in business informatics and a master's degree in industrial safety and security, focussing on securing industrial systems and processes. As a consultant for information security management systems (ISMS), he supported operators of critical infrastructures in the introduction and maintenance of security standards in accordance with ISO/IEC 27001. Nowadays, his focus is on information security and project-related IT/OT security in the critical infrastructure sectors of transport and traffic, energy, information technology and telecommunications. In his role as information security and management system officer (ISO/IEC 27001| ISO 9001), he combines the aspects of quality and security and is responsible for the risk-based selection and integration of security measures in operational processes. He actively supports the digital transformation of safety-critical systems in the context of modern communication platforms for safety components. This includes the monitoring and secure networking of OT components. With his interdisciplinary background, he combines technical expertise with regulatory understanding - an essential combination for innovative and secure solutions in the field of future digital signalling technology.

Florian Einböck is a Product Manager at Frauscher Sensor Technology. After graduating from the HTL Braunau, Florian Einböck worked as a programmer for PLC, focusing primarily on machine safety and machine data acquisition. Alongside his work, Florian commenced a part-time degree in mechatronics and business, with a specialisation in innovation and product management. Subsequently, he spent seven years as a product and project manager responsible for software and computer vision projects. In 2019, Florian joined Frauscher as a Product Manager of the Frauscher Advanced Counter FAdC® with a focus on "Future Signalling Architecture", Object Controller and protocols including Frauscher Safe Ethernet FSE and EULYNX. Florian speaks German and English.

Bernd Elsweiler has been working in the railway sector for over 20 years. Together with his team, he is responsible for the requirements specification of digital signalling systems, planning rules and approvals. He has been actively involved in European projects for many years and represents DB in the EULYNX initiative.

Tim is a Railway Maintenance professional specialising in the deployment of innovative technology and processes to improve asset reliability and efficiency. Prior to joining KONUX Tim dedicated 21 years to Network Rail with leading roles in data management, planning, and leading complex organizational changes. His notable achievements include the introduction of large-scale machine vision technology for track inspections, setting a global benchmark for its implementation as the largest scale rollout of such technology in the world.  As Professional Head of Maintenance, Tim was instrumental in scoping, initiating and securing funding for the £190 million Intelligent Infrastructure Programme, later overseeing its execution as Chief Intelligent Infrastructure Engineer. At KONUX, Tim initially led the UK market and, as of 2024, expanded his role to include Northern Europe and International Business Development. Tim’s career is marked by a commitment to advancing railway operations through strategic innovation and collaboration.

Bogdan Godziejewski, Rail Director at Mott MacDonald (Netherlands) and the 101st President of The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE), boasts four decades of experience in signalling and train control research, development, and deployment. He began his career in 1985 at the Railway Scientific and Technical Centre in Poland, and later coordinated and led various innovation projects at the European Rail Research Institute for the UIC, ERTMS Users Group, and European Commission (EC). He continues to collaborate with the EC by reviewing projects and proposals related to the implementation and development of the ERTMS.

Since joining Mott MacDonald in 2014, he has led the competence centre for digital transformation of signalling and train control, supporting projects like the ETCS deployments in Belgium, and Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) for the Sydney Metro. He has also conducted CBTC technical studies in Washington, New York, Seattle, and Toronto. In the Netherlands, he serves as a member of the advisory commission for the digitalisation of railways.

As the IRSE President, Bogdan Godziejewski has chosen the theme 'Engaging Generation Unlimited' and is committed to listening to young professionals, understanding their ideas and needs. He aims to prepare the IRSE to better support future leaders in their professional development within the signalling and train control field.

Jonathan Hu is a seasoned professional with 25 years of experience in the rail and transit industry. He has extensive global experience in designing, implementing, and deploying signalling systems for metro, light rail, and mainline railway projects. His specialization in Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) systems is particularly noteworthy, as he has deployed various projects in North America, Europe, and Asia. 

His career started with Alcatel (later known as Thales and now recently Hitachi), where he worked as a software designer for the legacy SelTrac S40 product. This product is the one that delivered the first CBTC system in Toronto and Vancouver in the 1980s. Jonathan was involved in the development of the Interoperability Interface Specification (I2S) solution that meets the requirements of New York City Transit for Alcatel. Currently, Jonathan is the lead engineer representing the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency in upgrading their signalling system with the Hitachi SelTrac G9 solution using 5G technology as the primary mode of communication.

In sharing his knowledge in signalling, he was an instructor for the WSP Global Academy of Rail and Transit, which provided WSP colleagues with classroom and workshop training for the CBTC system. He was the lead author of a railway automation paper for Transport Canada exploring various signalling system technologies, such as Positive Train Control, European Train Control System, and CBTC, that can be adopted for Canadian mainline railways. He also participated in a Canadian Standards Association working group to develop an interoperable signalling system specification for the Canadian market.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karl-Albrecht Klinge currently leads the Working Groups on Diagnostics and Configuration in the EU Rail System Pillar as a Professor for Distributed Systems. He is also CIO for the Hochschule Mainz and founded praedicta GmbH in 2019. Prior to that he has worked at DB InfraGO to develop digital twin models from 2011-2023. In parallel he founded infraView GmbH in 2010 and contributed to the development of diagnostics platforms, such as DIANA and TecWatch as well as various algorithms. The company later became part of the DB E.C.O. group. From 2015-2024, Mr Klinge was also the Dean for the Faculty of Technology at Hochschule Mainz, where he is a Professor since 2010. Before his academic career, he worked in DB AG and DB Netze AG from 2005-2010.

Alexander Kruse works as Technical Product Manager for SNCF Réseau since 07/2019. Prior to that, he took on various roles, such as System Engineer in RATP, System Validation in Alstom and Validation Engineer in GE Transportation. The foundation for his professional contribution throughout these positions was layed with his Engineering degree in Computer Science from University of Applied Sciences Munich / Würzburg-Schweinfurt.

Juha Lehtola has been working with signalling systems in Finland from 2009. He started in consulting with design and commissioning activities before becomeing part of the first European alliance model track renovation project with the responsibility of all signaling works. In 2014 Mr Lehtola joined the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (the railway infrastructure manager) and began working as a project manager in signaling projects also working closely with the interlocking requirements. Currently he is heading the national ERTMS program, including renewal of all signalling systems.

Andreas Matthä's career at ÖBB began in 1982. In 1987, he took over organisational responsibility for bridge maintenance in the ÖBB General Directorate. From 1995 to 2001, he moved to the ÖBB Business Unit Planning and Engineering, where he acted as team leader for accounting, controlling and finance. In 2001, Mr Matthä took over the position of Head of Planning, Controlling and Systems before becoming Head of Controlling and Finance in 2005. From 2008, he represented the Finance, Markets and Services divisions on the Board of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG before becoming Chief Executive Officer of ÖBB-Holding AG in 2016 – a position he continues to fulfil with commitment and passion to this day. Since 2016, Andreas Matthä has also been a UIC Member of the European Management Committee. From 2017 to 2020, he was Vice-Chair of the Management Committee of the CER – Community of European Railways, before taking over as Chair in 2020.

Richard Plokhaar is a rail professional with 39 years of experience in the industry. His comprehensive knowledge about signalling systems, rail operations, and maintenance concept has brought him to projects in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia as well as in areas of high-speed trains, heavy rail, freight rail, commuter rail, subway systems, and operations control centres. He specializes in the analysis and optimization of all facets of operations and maintenance, from the conceptual phase to real operations. His expertise extends to the functional planning and design of systems, fleet operations and maintenance facilities. Richard has significant experience in preparing facility conceptual designs, site selection studies, facility design criteria, equipment selection, requirements specification, and construction documents. He has participated in facility design on multiple successful projects and worked extensively with agencies on their bus, rail, and fleet maintenance facility needs. He is currently working as a Senior Technical Director for WSP from the Toronto office in Canada and assisting teams globally for the implementation of various signalling systems including CBTC and ERTMS/ETCS.

After completing his studies in business management at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with the IBS Academy, Anil Rai founded his own company. In 2018, he began his career in the railway industry and took on the role of Social Media & Digital Marketing Manager at WESTbahn GmbH until 2020. He then moved to ÖBB Holding AG as European Affairs Manager before taking on the role of Managing Director at the Austrian Rail Industry Association in 2023.

With decades of experience in railway signalling, I have built a broad and deep understanding of signalling engineering, systems integration, and management. My career has taken me across multiple roles, locations, and even countries, allowing me to work with diverse systems, cultures, and methodologies. This exposure has significantly expanded my knowledge base and professional network, enabling me to offer valuable insights, solutions, and mentorship to others in the industry.

I began my railway signalling career in Sydney as an apprentice in 1984, qualifying as a signalling maintenance technician. Over the years, I progressed into various technical and managerial roles, ultimately becoming a railway signal engineer. This journey has provided me with expertise in design, systems, equipment, and industry Standards—ensuring their seamless integration to create safe and efficient railway operations.

Currently, I specialise in signalling assurance, Standards, equipment type approval, and mentorship in a technical managerial role. While my primary focus is on governance and assurance, I remain actively involved in hands-on testing and commissioning, maintaining my field qualifications to support project delivery teams when needed.

I am passionate about developing future railway signalling professionals, offering guidance both formally as a course tutor and informally to those seeking support. My goal is to add value to project scoping and planning by introducing innovative approaches and technologies that challenge traditional methods while maintaining the highest safety and operational integrity standards.

Sergio Repetto graduated in Electronic Engineering in 1993 from the University of Genoa. Initially, he worked as a Software and System Designer for Safety Equipment for Railway Signaling in one of the main Italian companies in the sector, participating in the activation of the first Computer Based Interlocking system in commercial service in Italy at the Roma Termini station in 1999; moreover, he personally followed the installation of a line equipped with Computer Based Interlocking in the People's Republic of China in 1996.

Subsequently, he enriched his technological skills by working as a Project Leader at a major multinational company in the Telecommunications sector. He then became a Partner and Development Manager in an Engineering company in the Railway Signaling sector, with which he was involved in national and international projects in Italy, Denmark and Belgium.

In 2019, he joined the Research and Development Department of RFI S.p.A.; in 2022 he became deputy of the Systems Development Structure, of which he has been appointed manager since 2023 and in which he coordinates the development projects of innovative signaling systems.

Max Schubert is co-founder and managing director of INCYDE, a company that focuses on cybersecurity for operational technology (OT). While studying electrical engineering, he also received training in control and safety engineering and railway operations. After graduating, he focused on innovation projects, design support and regulations for LST, energy and lighting systems in railway operations at DB Netz AG. During his professional career, Mr Schubert has taken on various international projects in the railway sector, such as project management for fibre optic sensing, management of the LST group in cooperation with Japan, and responsibility for developing energy supply specifications in the DACH region. After holding management positions in the field of LST components and energy technology, Mr Schubert was most recently responsible for the architecture of the trades for the implementation of the digital strategy and the IT security of operational technology with security architecture, specification and setting up the Security Operation Centre. As Head of IT Security, he was already committed to a uniform security strategy and risk management at European level in order to support interface standardisation for RCA and EULYNX. Since taking over the management of INCYDE, Max Schubert has focused on the development of cybersecurity for OT with a focus on the railway and automotive sectors. The combination of research, operator and manufacturer projects gives the company comprehensive knowledge and a complete view of the design and operation of efficient cybersecurity solutions.

Michael Thiel has been Chief Executive Officer of Frauscher Sensor Technology since 2009. He completed his diploma in automation with a focus on railway automation and railway signalling at the "Friedrich List" University of Transportation in Dresden. Michael has several years of experience working for well-known companies in the railway industry, such as Balfour Beatty Rail and Bombardier. Under his leadership, Frauscher has developed into a technology company operating worldwide.

Dominic Winkler is an accomplished IT Enterprise Architect at ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG in Wien. With a strong background in software development and a focus on innovative technologies, Dominic has significantly contributed to the digital transformation of the railway industry. His expertise spans IoT, BIM, VR, and sensor systems, integrated into projects like the Railway Digital Twin. He spearheaded initiatives to adopt agile methodologies, significantly enhancing the digital transformation efforts.

Before joining ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, Dominic was the CTO at TMC, steering the technology roadmap of digital products for track machines. Dominic has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, with 10 years dedicated to the railway sector. He is also a sought-after speaker, sharing his insights on digital transformation and technology integration at various industry forum.

Dominic holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from TU Wien, where he completed a thesis and research papers on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) in commercial WDM systems.

Dr Michael Leining is the managing director of NEXTRAIL GmbH. As a driver of the digitisation of the railways, he works closely with pioneering thinkers, decision makers and committees in the railway sector, advising railway and infrastructure operators on technology and transformation projects at the national and international level. In addition to his work at NEXTRAIL, Dr Michael Leining teaches digital control-command and signalling system at the technical universities of Darmstadt, Munich and Singapore. 

Before joining NEXTRAIL, he held various management positions at Deutsche Bahn from 2002 to 2018. For almost a decade, he was responsible for technology development and plant and maintenance management for DB Netz AG’s signalling technology. During this time, he shaped topics relevant to the future of rail, such as the modularisation and standardisation of signalling technology (DLST/EULYNX), the introduction and approval of ETCS in Germany, automated driving on main railways (ATO), and the consideration of IT security for safety-critical infrastructures and their approval processes. As a leader in the cooperation between Deutsche Bahn and TU Darmstadt, he initiated future-relevant funding and research topics and continues to support these areas of innovation to this day. 

Dr Michael Leining graduated in with a degree in industrial engineering from TU Darmstadt.