Last week, Marrakech was the world’s centre stage for mobility and more specifically for high-speed rail.
In terms of initial take-away messages…
Organising this international UIC event in Morocco, and for the first time in Africa, was of extreme symbolic importance. For the future of transport, it is essential to ensure that rail and public transport become the backbone of mobility.
The various discussion held during the Congress have demonstrated that today, there is no limit to the extension of the high-speed network and to the extension of railways in middle-income countries.
One of the aspects to remember from this Congress is the word integration.
- Integration between high-speed and conventional railways to accelerate modal shift,
- Integration with other modes of transport to achieve multimodality,
- Integration of new methods of financing.
This integration should be part of an approach that integrates other modes of transport as far as possible, including air, and notably by pursuing the work conducted jointly on ticketing.
It is becoming increasingly urgent to change the paradigm of mobility, should we wish to overcome all together the challenge of global warming.
The success of the congress summed up in a few figures
- 1,500 congress participants
- 250 conference delegates
- 48 countries
- 25 CEOs and high-level executives
- Ministers and high-ranking figures
- 30 parallel sessions
- 45% women
- 30 sponsors and 50 exhibitors
- 5 continents
- 1 memorable gala dinner organised by ONCF
- 4 days including an exclusive technical and cultural visit
A scientific programme worthy of the event
The Congress brought together here many meaningful contributions. It served to cover all aspects of high-speed: technical, economic, financial, commercial and environmental, thus enabling through various insights to respond to the slogan “High-Speed Rail: the right speed for our planet”.
This Congress is an additional milestone to the growing awareness that we have to continue working together.
The present state of knowledge shared over these three days must be followed up by strong commitments, in particular of a financial nature.
For rail transport to be totally inclusive and connected, it is necessary to have:
- Continuity and coherence in political decisions that are taken,
- Permanent aid from financial donors.
This Congress is a significant landmark, but we must continue to work together, particularly in view of the next United Nations Conference on Climate Change – COP28, which is to be held in Dubai at the end of the year.
Deliverables will shortly be available
In order to fully benefit from all the key messages delivered and heard throughout the Congress, UIC is currently preparing a summary document, which will be sent to you very soon.
Until then, please do not hesitate to regularly visit the website https://uichighspeed.org/ where all the presentations, photos, videos, press articles linked to the Congress will be published as soon as possible.
UIC and ONCF would also like to thank all the sponsors of the event, as well as all the media partners, who all contributed to the success of the Congress.
Stay connected!
Above and beyond this Congress, please feel free to follow all the latest news from UIC and ONCF on our respective social networks. Do not hesitate to speak of the event to people around you, or on social media, using the hashtag #UICWCHSR23.
Moreover, feel free to consult our calendar of events online https://uic.org/events/ (filter possible between the different types of events).
To view the photos of the Congress please visit: https://bit.ly/3YSY3qF
