2 October 2026
By Graham K. Rogers
Students from the graduate railway engineering program at Mahidol University, and four faculty members spent a week in Germany. They visited universities that specialize in railway engineering. They also attended the InnoTrans 2026 railway technology exhibition at Messe Berlin, before taking the ICE high speed train to Hamburg. There, they took part in a conference on railway developments: ten members of the group presented papers. Before flying back to Thailand, they visited a university and further explored transportation systems. The return to Bangkok was less of a success following heavy rains and consequent flooding which had several knock-on effects. All images from Germany were provided by CLARE.
Railway systems in Thailand have seen major developments in recent years. For a long time, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) was the sole provider of rail transportation, with important links to the North and South, as well as lines to the East (Chachoengsao) and the West (Kanchanaburi). There are also two minor branch lines: to Mahachai; and a separate but related link to Mae Klong, used by locals but much loved by tourists.
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SRT trains run on metre-gauge tracks. Diesel locomotives and multiple units have been used in the main, although a few steam engines are maintained for special trains. The SRT is currently extending dual line running and developing a high-speed train system that will run out of the new Bangkok Apiwat Central terminus station.
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In the late 1990s, the BTS, "Skytrain" was opened. The 3rd-rail electrified units ran on standard gauge tracks (1,435 mm or 4' 8½"). Several other metro lines were developed over the next few years which has resulted in a mix of track and train types. MRT Blue Line and Purple line trains run on standard gauge tracks like the BTS system. Yellow Line and Pink Line trains use driverless monorail systems. The short Gold Line uses a different driverless monorail system.
The Airport Rail Link opened in 2010, is owned by the State Railway of Thailand. Like MRT and SRT it uses standard gauge tracks, but is powered by an overhead catenary system. The Red Line, also owned by SRT, uses overhead catenary to power its units, but runs on metre-gauge tracks. Although this seems to be an outlier, it has the advantage that the trains would also be able to run on current SRT tracks. This would be an advantage for future extensions.
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The expansion of railway systems in Bangkok and beyond has meant a need for well-trained engineers who can maintain the various systems: permanent way, signalling, electrification, construction, and other engineering skills. Recognizing the need for fully-trained personnel who could maintain the new (and traditional) railway systems, the Faculty of Engineering at Mahidol University drew on its experienced faculty members in Civil, Computer, Electrical, Industrial and Mechanical engineering to develop a program that focused on railway engineering: the Cluster of Logistics and Railway Engineering (CLARE). As the health industry has grown in Thailand and similarly needed a specialized approach, CLARE also includes a Health Logistics program.
A group of 16 graduate students from CLARE, accompanied by 4 faculty members, recently visited Germany for a study tour, beginning in Berlin. On 18 September, the group flew from Thailand to Berlin via Munich, arriving early Sunday morning (20 Sep). Having booked into their Berlin accommodation, the group took to the streets to have a look at rail and tram systems in the city starting with the impressive main station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof and a side trip to the famous Brandenburg Gate. The group also took time to try the Berlin trams (featured in The Bourne Supremacy with scenes in Alexanderplatz).
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On the first full day of their study tour (Monday 21 Sep), some CLARE members went to the Technical University of Applied Sciences at Wildau University where they joined participants of the CSS Summer Camp: the International Rail Control, Command and Signalling (CCS) Educational Programme.
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Dr Phumin Kirawanich spoke about his EMC management project: electromagnetic compatibility in railways, to ensure that electrical and electronic components work safely together without causing electromagnetic interference (EMI). While at Wildau, CLARE members were shown round the university by Dr Martin Lehnert.
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In the meantime, the CLARE student group visited Siemens facilities to gain a better understanding about the retrofit of the ETCS train control for existing locomotives. The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a system that provides train drivers with information from trackside installations. It is intended to replace incompatible systems in Europe and worldwide. Dr Waressara Weerawat joined the students at Siemens later. The visit provided the Thai students with a greater appreciation of the systems that are available for railway development.
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Following the Siemens visit, the group went to TU Berlin (Technische Universität Berlin) where they met Prof. Dr.-Ing. Birgit Milius and Prof Joern Pachl. Students were given access to the operational lab for a live demonstration of the signaling system by Prof Pachl. This type of resource is important for learning about railway operations in a safe environment. CLARE has developed its own large model at the Faculty of Engineering. This is valuable for teaching our own students how to understand the complexities of signaling and block operations. It is also available for visiting students allowing other programs to benefit from the experience.
On Tuesday and Wednesday (22-23 September), the Students and Staff from Clare attended the Innotrans Exhibition at Messe Berlin. They had a chance to discuss rail technology with professionals, and to experience the latest rail systems technology including rolling stock, rail infrastructure, traffic control and signaling. The were also able to network with several people in the field. This included research and job guidance as well as insights into the technology on display. This is the largest rail event in the world. The entrance tickets for this event included free rides for all local public transport.
InnoTrans 2026 is significant trade show of railway technology. It was held at Messe Berlin. The show area was established early in the 20th Century. This has a significant area for exhibitions and shows, with some 26 halls in its 190,000 square metres of space. It is also known as Berlin ExpoCenter City. The outdoor display area also includes a significant track area, ideal for viewing railway technology in a real environment.
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On the morning of 23 Sep the CLARE group had the chance to visit the offices of Deutsche Bahn (DB) at the central station before attending their second day at InnoTrans 2026. Later in the day, they returned to the station where they caught the high-speed train to Hamburg: a journey of 1h 45m, for the 160 miles. I am reliably informed that the train ride was notably clean and comfortable although there was a significant delay of around 45 mins from the scheduled departure time.
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In Hamburg, the CLARE students and staff members attended the 18th Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL 2026) at Technische Universität Hamburg (TUHH) on Thursday and Friday (24-25 Sep). The CLARE group was welcomed by the conference organizers including Prof. Wolfgang Kersten, key conference founder; Prof. Carlos Jahn, the Dean of Management Sciences and Technology; and Prof. Christian Thies, the HICL conference chair. 10 of the masters and PhD students from CLARE gave presentations about their research work. This was a good outing for the students in an international forum which had participants from 14 countries. During the conference dinner on 24 Sep, students made good use of the time to network with other researchers.
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As TUHH is in Harburg, a few kms to the south of Hamburg, the students decided to stay in the city center and use the excellent metro rail links to the university. This gave them greater flexibility for later exploration of the transportation network. On the Thursday afternoon (24 Sep) the group was invited to visit the Hamburg S-Bahn headquarters, located next to Hammerbrook station. Those members of the group not involved in presentations were able to attend. Hammerbrook station has a special design representing the red Hamburg S-Bahn train. The Head of digital S-Bahn Hamburg, Christoph Gonçalves Alpoim, was kind enough to arrange for the group to visit. With his team members, especially Christopher Wink, the system manager explain the details of their ETCS level 2 and ATO pilot projects. They also shared their views about necessary skills for new graduates.
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The conference continued until Sep 25. The CLARE group was then given a tour of the TUHH campus. After the conference, the members of the group explored the public transportation systems in the city area of Hamburg where there is "an extensive public transport system including underground trains, a light-rail network, buses and ferries." (Hamburg.com). The city is is well known as a maritime port. Some group members took a ferry and were able to see cargo ships, the Old Elbe Tunnel, and Miniatur Wunderland - a model railway display. Other group members were brave enough to take a 90 minute journey on a regional express train and visit the city of Bremen some 95 Kms from Hamburg. With the nice weather some group members just enjoyed themselves walking to the Rathaus (City Hall) from the central station.
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On Saturday (26 Sep) the group traveled to the airport using the S1 train a journey of around 10 Kms. Normally, trains run every 10 mins and the journey from Landwehr station to Hamburg airport takes around 30 mins. However, like the ICE journey to Hamburg, there were again some delays. The train was packed, and there was standing room only. The CLARE group flew back to Thailand using Austrian Airlines with a connecting flight from Vienna.
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Unfortunately for the group, their arrival back in Bangkok proved less than positive. After a week of late summer sunshine (and some clouds) in Germany, the heavens opened in Thailand and dropped some 300 mm or more of rain. Much of Thailand was affected. Bangkok, saw major flooding, mainly in the north and east of the city. The Governor later declared all 50 districts disaster areas as a way to ensure assistance was not delayed. As well as flooded roads, causing major delays to traffic, food supplies quickly became limited as shelves were cleared and food vendors were unable to set up.
Metro systems kept running with some Red Line delays on Saturday. By the time the group arrived on Sunday afternoon, Suvarnabhumi airport was in chaos as many ground staff were unable to travel from their homes to the airport. As a result, planes were not fully maintained, luggage was not transported to and from the aircraft, and thousands of passengers were kept waiting. Several members of the group were affected by the conditions with flooded homes, and restricted travel.
Overall, the week spent in Germany was of benefit, especially to the students. In just a few days they were able to experience several different transportation systems, visit the major InnoTrans 2026 rail exhibition, ride on the high speed train from Berlin to Hamburg, meet several academics and students during the course of the week, and some of the students were able to present their research to an audience at an international conference. The study trip organized by CLARE was of immense benefit to the students. In one short week, these Mahidol Engineering students were able to condense a range of rail-related events outside their normal experience to feed directly into their expertise in the field of railway engineering.
Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. After 3 years writing a column in the Life supplement, he is now no longer associated with the Bangkok Post. He can be followed on X (@extensions_th). The RSS feed for the articles is http://www.extensions.in.th/ext_link.xml - copy and paste into your feed reader. No AI was used in writing this item.
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