On 27 January, UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux was given the opportunity to deliver a presentation at the Norwegian Embassy in Paris to a delegation from the Norwegian Parliament’s Transport Committee as part of a European study. The meeting served as an occasion for him to present UIC and the various projects in which it is involved, notably in the development of high speed rail.

Norway is in fact planning to launch a high speed service between Oslo and Bergen in the near future. The delegation was thus particularly interested in all of the information UIC could provide on European projects as well as developments in other parts of the world.

The issues addressed focused not only on the technical performance but also on the economic performance of existing high speed projects, with particular stress placed on the socio-economic performance of a high speed line, especially its positive impact on the environment, territorial planning and the economic impetus in the regions served.

Similarly, the idea of stations as intermodal platforms between different modes of transport was extremely well received by the Norwegian parliamentarians and further contact on this topic will be scheduled for later in the year.