Yoshio Ishida, UIC Chairman, attended the Annual Meeting of APTA (American Public Transportation Association), which began on 3 October 2010 in San Antonio, Texas. On the morning of the first day he gave a speech as an honoured guest at the Board of Directors’ meeting. It was the second time that a UIC Chairman had been invited to the APTA Statutory Meeting.

In his speech, Mr. Ishida pointed out that a year had passed since the signing of the MoU, mainly concerning high speed rail, between UIC and APTA, the public transport association for North America. He emphasised his desire to strengthen the relationship between the two organisations to contribute extensively to the development of railways and public transport not only in the U.S. but throughout the world, and encouraged APTA members to become actively involved in UIC activities toward this objective. Moreover, Mr. Ishida stated that high speed railways can not function independently from urban and suburban public transport and they have a mutually complementary relationship, and that, for this reason, the further development of APTA was indispensable for the success of U.S. high speed rail projects. This statement was well received by the audience.

Mr. Ishida met with Mr. Michael J. Scanlon, newly appointed APTA Chairman and Mr. William W. Millar, APTA President, who will leave office next October, and they agreed together that the mutual understanding and cooperation between UIC and APTA would be enhanced. In their meeting, Mr. Ishida also strongly welcomed Mr. Millar’s proposal that he should participate in the UIC World Congress on High Speed Rail to be held in Beijing this December.