The first quarter of 2019 was busy at Mahidol University with rail courses delivered by external guests…
First up, in late January 2019, thanks to the support of DAAD, Mahidol University (MU) hosted Dr Martin Lehnert from TU Wildau (Germany), who delivered a two-week course on ‘Telematics in Transport’. Next, in mid-February 2019 Prof Joern Pachl from TU Braunschweig (Germany) delivered a one-week course on ‘Railway Signalling and Operations’. In April and May MU hosted guests from Japan, who educated students on two more modules in ‘Railway System Components and Standards’ and ‘Principles of Service and Maintenance Design for Rail System’.
Metro research
Early this year CLARE team completed a one-year project for the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) titled ‘A Study of Systematic Train Operations Planning for Mass Rapid Transit Service Enhancement’.
Key outcomes of the project included:
1) criteria for naming and coding stations and interchanges in Bangkok metro network
2) key performance indicators (KPIs) for metro operations
3) Bangkok metro network app ‘BKKRail’ available via Google Play or Apple Store
4) digital standards for monitoring and controlling the operations.
In addition, the CLARE team drafted a comprehensive Bangkok metro network map, with the existing and all planned metro lines. The map will evolve in the future as and when new decisions, lines and station names are officially confirmed. The most recent version of the map is available at: https://www.eg.mahidol.ac.th/dept/clare/research/
Free STEM resources available
As part of the UK-TH MetroExchange project, the CLARE team developed STEM school resources and career sheets promoting the issues of transport in an outreach way. Two Bangkok-related STEM resources (Rail ballast activity and Salaya-Siam travel options) are available online free of charge. In addition, careers in transport featuring eight professionals from academia and industry working in transport and the level of STEM subjects involved in their daily duties, are available online, too.
Link: https://www.eg.mahidol.ac.th/dept/clare/research/
Women in engineering
Finally, let’s not forget that as we progress with more railway projects in the world, rail workforce is becoming more diverse and inclusive and there are more women joining the industry. International Women in Engineering Day, which is celebrated annually, took place on 23rd June 2019. Resource packs are available online at: www.wes.org.uk
Dr Anna Fraszczyk
Cluster of Logistics and Rail Engineering (CLARE)
Mahidol University, Thailand
