Following the successful congress held in 2008 in Seoul, Korea, the 9th edition of the WCRR, World Congress on Railway Research, is scheduled to take place in Lille, France, from 22-26 May 2011, at the invitation of French Railways SNCF. This leading event dedicated to the progress of railway research across the world now constitutes a world-wide reference for railway researchers, representatives from railway industry and other industrial sectors, research institutes and universities, as well as representatives from European and international bodies in charge of encouraging railway research.
WCRR 2011 will offer:
– A world congress with plenary and specialised sessions dealing with strategic as well as technical issues of railway research
– poster sessions and best paper awards
– An international exhibition focused on research-related and technical railway issues
– A programme of technical visits
The WCRR is to be held in Lille-Grand Palais congress and exhibition centre, a venue located close to Lille city centre and Lille-Flandres railway station.
The preparation of WCRR 2011 is being carried out by two groups that held their meetings on 28 and 29 January in Paris at SNCF Headquarters:
– The WCRR Organizing Committee (ORG) chaired by Mrs Marie-Pierre Meynard, SNCF Director of Innovation and Research. This group is in charge of defining the strategic orientations and overall organisational framework for the world congress, and monitoring the progress
– The WCRR Executive Committee (EXE) chaired by Jean-Noël Temem, Delegated Director Innovation and Research at SNCF, which is responsible for proposing the scientific content of the congress, proposing themes and sub-themes related to railway research, organising the call for papers and the selection of papers and posters at a “marathon meeting” to be held in Avignon, and monitoring all organisational issues related to the preparation of the congress
Members of both committees are founding members of the WCRR: AAR/TTCI (USA), RTRI/JR (Japan), UIC, DB (Germany), RSSB (UK), SNCF (France), Trenitalia/FS (Italy).
