The Institute of Transport Science has successfully completed the expansion of the cause-effect relationship ("UWZ") approaches to other asset classes commissioned by DB InfraGO AG. The developed models can be used to predict the condition of station infrastructure assets depending on the available budget for maintenance and renewal.

This year's Transportation Research Forum (TRF) conference took place in Washington D.C. on April 4 and 5. At the conference, a wide variety of topics related to transportation are presented and discussed.
As part of the RWTH Speed Funds grant, our master's student Inga von Scheliha was given the opportunity to present the results of her master's thesis on the topic of "Modeling the climate-relevant environmental impacts of infrastructure elements of the rail, road and air modes of transport". In the thesis, a system-dynamic model was developed that makes it possible to compare the infrastructure-related emissions that are attributable to the construction and operation of the infrastructure. The model was then applied to various route variants and scenarios. We would like to thank the RWTH and the Hans Herrmann Voss Foundation for their "Speed Funds" support, which enabled us to participate in this conference and thus to actively exchange ideas on the multifaceted topics related to transportation.

Pengling Wang, Xioafang Xiao and Nils Nießen have published the peer reviewed article "Flexible rolling stock composition strategy in urban rail transit lines: The influences of various train units and station capacities" in Transport Research Part C: Emerging Technologies (Volume 162) by Elsevier. The article can be viewed and here downloaded in full as free access before May 29, 2024.

In February and March 2024, the institute for transport science conducts further training courses on "Planning", "Operation" and "Railway safety and signalling technology" for CFL employees.

The destination of this year's excursion
(21.05. - 24.05.2024) organized by the RWTH transport chairs will be Berlin. The program includes the BVG and the Autobahn GmbH as well as visits to the maintenance facilities for ICEs in Rummelsburg and the Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.

On 14 March, the Bundesnetzagentur hosted the Market Dialogue 2024 at the Kunstmuseum in Bonn. Under the headline "Setting the course for the digitalisation of the rail sector?", experts from practice and academia discussed the impact and potential of digitalisation on capacity management, operations and dispatching. Prof. Nießen gave a talk on the topic of "Opportunities in the digitalisation of rail operations".

This summer term, Dr. Andreas Kaldenbach will again give his lecture "Ausgewählte Aspekte des Schienenbahnwesens". This course will be held in the German language.
Furthermore, we are delighted to announce that Dr. Pengling Wang will give an additional lecture "Selected Aspects of Railways" for our English-speaking students. This lecture will cover the topic of energy-efficient railway operations.
Please find further information in the documents linked for the German and English courses.

On February 6,2024 the inaugural session of the Research Accompanying Task Torce for the DZSF-project "Digitalisation in capacity management of the overall rail system" took place at the premises of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport in Berlin. Together with our project partners the quattron management consulting GmbH, the institute for the didactics of law of the university of Passau and the neXt Capacity GmbH, we shared current insights into the project's progress and development. Subsequently, a comprehensive discussion with invited experts provided us with valuable perspectives for shaping the project's future trajectory.