Coenraad Esveld is the author of the book Modern Railway Track and has wide experience in railways, both in the field of design and maintenance. He worked during 17 years for Netherlands Railways in the Permanent Way Department, with special responsibility for quality control, and was for 13 years professor of railway engineering at Delft University of Technology. He is also director of Esveld Consulting Services, a company operating since 1991. He published hundreds of papers and headed numerous research projects. The last decade an important focus in his work was on high-speed, with a close involvement in projects in The Netherlands, Korea and Taiwan.