On 23 June, UIC Director General François Davenne delivered the closing keynote speech at CORE 2021: the Conference on Railway Excellence, held in Perth, Australia by the Rail Technical Society of Australia. Mr Davenne took the opportunity to inform Australian railway stakeholders and members of UIC’s latest study on possible scenarios for post-pandemic railway recovery, as well as his wish for greater cooperation in Asia-Pacific and between the various UIC regions so as to develop projects and activities.

CORE, a premier railway conference held in Australia every two years, was postponed last year due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. With some parts of Australia subjected to travel restrictions, this year’s event was a hybrid face-to-face and online event. Around 460 participants attended the event in person, while 120 participants connected virtually. Many presentations were delivered virtually, including that of Mr Davenne.

This did not take away from the richness of the content, which included topics such as ”Collaborating to master complexity”, and the overall success of the event. UIC and the Rail Technical Society of Australia have a long-standing partnership which, UIC hopes, will continue to the benefit of both organisations and the industry into the future. UIC was present at the event with a stand in the exhibition hall, and also had a virtual stand so as to be able to respond to any questions from delegates.

This presence, together with Mr Davenne’s speech, has raised awareness of UIC’s activities around the world and will hopefully result in membership growth and increased UIC activity in Australia. Visitors to the virtual stand were able to download brochures and videos at their leisure, ask questions and request further contact.

UIC is hopeful that Australia will recover quickly from the pandemic so as to be able to take part in CORE once again in 2023.