Armando Carrillo Zanuy, born on August 29, 1977, in Spain, is an expert in railway engineering and logistics. He currently serves as Secretary General at EURNEX e.V., the European Rail Research Network of Excellence, where he has been instrumental since 2016. Prior to this, he was a researcher in TU Berlin FG Schienenfahrwege und Bahnbetrieb. Carrillo Zanuy holds a PhD in Railway Engineering from Technische Universität Berlin, with a focus on intermodal trains. He also earned a Master’s degree in Logistics and Transportation from the Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm (KTH), and a Civil Engineering degree from Universitat Politècnica de València. He is a member of the Steering Committee of ERRAC European Rail Research Advisory Council and member of the Management Committee of the TRA (Transport Research Arena). His extensive publication record and involvement in numerous European multimodal transport projects highlight his contributions to advancing railway research and development. He is currently coordinator of the projects Academics4Rail and PhDs EU-Rail both funded by Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking.

Title

Towards FP10, Academic Networks in European Rail Research, EURNEX, Academics4Rail, PhDs EU-Rail, ERRAC PAG Academia and Rail Research Innovation Agenda

Achieving transport sustainability centers on creating seamless, multimodal public transport networks that effectively align supply and demand. While high-capacity modes like rail and buses excel in serving peak hours and high-demand corridors, a single-mode system cannot efficiently address all passenger needs across varying times and locations. First- and last-mile solutions are pivotal in bridging this gap, ensuring broader accessibility to mass transit, particularly in low-demand areas and off-peak periods. In this keynote, Dr. Gonçalo Correia will explore innovative first- and last-mile solutions, highlighting the roles of cycling, mobility hubs, ride-hailing, and shared electric automated vehicles. Drawing on real-world case studies from diverse spatial scales and contexts, he will examine the challenges and opportunities these modes present. The discussion will underscore how these solutions can integrate with high-capacity modes to create resilient, user-centric transport systems. The session will conclude with a forward-looking perspective on the critical considerations and transformative opportunities shaping the future of public transport.

Dr. Gonçalo H. A. Correia is a renowned scholar in sustainable urban mobility, specializing in the planning and operations of innovative transport systems. A Civil Engineering graduate from IST Lisbon with a Ph.D. in Transportation Systems from the same Institute, Dr. Correia has built a prolific career advancing transport research and education. Currently he is section head of Transport Mobility and Logistics (TML) at TU Delft in the Netherlands, where he leads transformative research on transport demand management, shared mobility, public transport, multimodality, and electric and automated vehicles, employing cutting-edge methods in optimization, AI, and behavioral modeling. He has authored over 100 high-impact journal articles and serves as Editor-in-Chief of npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport (Nature). Dr. Correia has several international projects, supervised 12 Ph.D., about 80 master thesis projects, and taught many transport modeling courses across Europe and China. As head of the TML section and co-director of the hEAT lab (research on electric and automated transport) at TU Delft, he shapes the future of mobility innovations, making him a trusted advisor and sought-after international speaker.

Title

Transforming Public Transport: Efficient First- and Last-Mile Solutions Across Spatial Scales

Achieving transport sustainability centers on creating seamless, multimodal public transport networks that effectively align supply and demand. While high-capacity modes like rail and buses excel in serving peak hours and high-demand corridors, a single-mode system cannot efficiently address all passenger needs across varying times and locations. First- and last-mile solutions are pivotal in bridging this gap, ensuring broader accessibility to mass transit, particularly in low-demand areas and off-peak periods. In this keynote, Dr. Gonçalo Correia will explore innovative first- and last-mile solutions, highlighting the roles of cycling, mobility hubs, ride-hailing, and shared electric automated vehicles. Drawing on real-world case studies from diverse spatial scales and contexts, he will examine the challenges and opportunities these modes present. The discussion will underscore how these solutions can integrate with high-capacity modes to create resilient, user-centric transport systems. The session will conclude with a forward-looking perspective on the critical considerations and transformative opportunities shaping the future of public transport.

Dr. Janet (Jing) Lin is a renowned expert in reliability-focused engineering, with a distinguished career spanning academia, industry leadership, and global collaborations. She is a Professor in the School of Innovation, Design, and Engineering at Mälardalen University (MDU), Sweden since 2022, and an Associate Professor and Docent at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) since 2015.
Dr. Lin currently serves as the Vice President of the IEEE Reliability Society (RS), focusing on Membership (2023–2024) and Publications (2025 onward). She successfully established the IEEE RS Sweden and Norway Joint Section Chapter in 2021 and has served as its Chair since inception. In 2024, she was honored with the "Annual Reliability Engineer of the Year" award, recognizing her outstanding contributions to the field.
Her research focuses on reliability-focused innovation, design, operation, and maintenance engineering, with expertise spanning Asset Management, RAM4S, e-Maintenance, Prognostics and Health Management (PHM), and Operational Research. Her work has practical applications in diverse industries, including transportation systems, energy system, advanced manufacturing, electronics and lighting, heavy industries, consumer goods and food, etc.
Beyond her academic achievements, Dr. Lin has made significant contributions to industry, including the initiation and coordination of the CSSC-LTU Joint Smart Maintenance Lab (Marine Manufacturing) and the CRRC-LTU Joint Research Center (Rolling Stock Manufacturing) from 2017 to 2021. She earned her PhD in Management Science from Nanjing University of Science & Technology in 2008 and served as a Senior Asset Management Consultant at SKF Ltd., Co. from 2008 to 2011.

Title

The AI Synergy Revolution: Redefining Railway Reliability for Tomorrow

This presentation will explore how the integration of Generative, Analytical, Causal, and Autonomous AI can revolutionize reliability engineering. By harnessing the unique strengths of each AI type—ranging from predictive maintenance and system optimization to real-time failure prevention and root cause analysis—this synergy enables a transformative shift from reactive to proactive and autonomous operations. The presentation will discuss current challenges in railway systems, showcase innovative applications of AI synergy, and envision a future where railways are smarter, safer, and more resilient. Attendees will gain insights into how these advancements can help build the railways of tomorrow, setting the foundation for sustainable and efficient transportation systems worldwide.

João Pombo is Professor of Railway Technology and Associate Director of the Institute of Railway Research, University of Huddersfield, UK, with a PhD and Post-Doc in Mechanical Engineering by the University of Lisbon, Portugal. He is a specialist in railway engineering, technology and computational methods, with more than 26 years’ experience. During his career, he has been involved in Research and Development (R&D) activities supporting technology development, including leadership and participation in several national and international projects in close collaboration with leading international research centres and key industry players. He also has more than three years’ working experience at BOMBARDIER and ALSTOM. João Pombo’s R&D work has been awarded five innovation prizes and he is author of more than 190 papers in refereed journals and international conferences, currently with an h-index of 30 in Scopus and 35 in Google Scholar. He is the editor-in-chief of the “International Journal of Railway Technology”, chairman of the "International Conference on Railway Technology" series, and editorial board member of the journals “Computers and Structures” (Elsevier), “Multibody System Dynamics” (Springer), “Advances in Engineering Software” (Elsevier) and “Energies - Electric Vehicles” (MDPI).

Title

Railway Electrification Cost Reduction for a more Sustainable Train Transportation System

An electrified railway has larger capacity, is more reliable and is cheaper to run. It also has environmental benefits at it produces no emissions and is becoming more decarbonised closer the electricity grids get to net zero. These factors make electrification of the modern railway systems an imperative to meet the transport decarbonization targets defined by the Paris agreement. To achieve this goal, it is imperative to reduce the costs of railway electrification. This work presents recent developments and case studies to improve the dynamic interaction between the pantograph and the overhead contact system. The aim of these tools is to de-risk new electrification projects and propose innovative solutions to enhance the operational efficiency of the rail transport, while reducing the overall construction costs.

Graduate at the Czech Technical University in Prague. Since 1987, he has worked at the Central Research Institute of the SKODA Pilsen Group. From 2000 to 2008, he was the director of SKODA RESEARCH, and from 2004 to 2005, he was also a member of the board of directors of VUKV, the research institute of railway rolling stock in Prague.

Since 2008, he has been working at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, where he qualified as an associate professor. He built the Regional Technological Institute, a research center of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. From 2012 to 2018, he managed the national project Center of Competence for Railway Vehicles.

Title

Experience in solving public R&D projects in the field of railway vehicles in the Czech Republic

The rolling stock industry in the Czech Republic will be briefly introduced, including the main manufacturing companies. National transport priorities and related strategic documents will be presented. The organization of research and development in the Czech Republic and the system of its public support will be explained. Examples of successful public projects from recent years, such as the Center of Competence for Railway Vehicles, will be given, and their results will be demonstrated. The issue of implementing research results into practice will be discussed.