Rail research-doing the right things right

摘要

The journey to work, business trips and family outings all mean that the demand for mobility will continue to in-crease in the future. Addressing this challenge requires the fur-ther development and strengthening of the railway System. How can this succeed? Structures for the research and development of new topics, insights and technologies were created last year with the establishment of the German Centre for Railway Research (DZSF). This measure is necessary, but not sufficient for the achievement of the goals regarding climate protection and the higher competitiveness of the railway System. Only engineering research which meets the requirements for effectiveness and efficiency contributes to achieving these am-bitious goals. Is the research centre addressing the "right topics" for research in "the right way"? Do effective mechanisms exist for the selection and development of the ränge of research topics? Is international research conducted at a sufficiently high enough level as would be expected of a federal institute?