Dr. Adrian Wagner received his doctoral diploma at the graduation ceremony on 11 October. He successfully defended his dissertation titled ‘Influence of train and traffic control on railway station capacity’ at the Faculty of Construction and Environmental Engineering at the TU Vienna in July, 2024.

This means that for the first time, a graduate of the Railway Technology and Mobility degree programme has been able to complete a doctoral programme and show that it is possible to follow the Master's programme at the St. Pölten UAS directly. The work was supervised by an external lecturer from the St. Pölten UAS, Priv.-Doz. Andreas Schöbel from the TU Vienna, and Prof. Hrvoje Haramina from the University of Zagreb, who has already given guest lectures at the St. Pölten UAS.

In his thesis, Adrian Wagner examined how it is possible to increase the efficiency of rail transport by using modern train control systems. In particular, the necessary modal shift to rail requires ways to utilise existing lines with a high train density more efficiently.

During his studies, Adrian Wagner was also able to significantly expand his research through an intensive exchange with the Faculty of Transport Sciences in Zagreb.

His theoretical methods for increasing capacity were subsequently tested in microscopic synchronous railway operations simulations. For this purpose, railway lines from Croatia, Austria and fictitious origins were selected. This made it possible to show how the various methods, such as the use of ETCS Level 3 Hybrid, can also improve capacity on different route parameters. The work offers additional added value, in particular, because it shows a quantification of the capacity increase on specific routes for the first time.

Adrian Wagner was thus able to present his dissertation in the course of the viva voce on 22 July and defend it in a subsequent examination. The Dean of Studies, Prof. Heuer, chaired the commission. In addition to the two reviewers, Prof. Sanjin Milinković from the Faculty of Transportation in Belgrade and Prof. Stefano Ricci from the University of Rome, Priv.-Doz. Andreas Schöbel was also part of the examination commission.

In the photo from left to right. Top: Dean Prof. Heuer (Chairman), Dr Adrian Wagner, Priv.-Doz. Andreas Schöbel (first supervisor) Bottom: Prof Sanjin Milinković (reviewer), Prof Stefano Ricci (reviewer), Prof Hrvoje Haramina (second supervisor).