Dr Tarumi, President of Japan’s Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), visited UIC HQ in Paris on 27 May. He is a specialist in railway structure and geology. After joining Japan National Railways, he studied at university in Paris for one year. He is known as a France watcher within Japan’s railway field. He contributed to the development of fundamental research in the field of railways as a researcher and manager, and also served on the WCRR organisation committee. He has been president of RTRI since 2009.

This time, Dr Tarumi visited France in order to participate in WCRR 2011 in Lille, stay in Paris on the way back from Lille, and visit UIC HQ in Paris. He conferred with Mr Vu, UIC Director of Institutional Relations. He explained the damage caused to Japan Railways by the earthquake and expressed gratitude for the consolatory letter from UIC. They then discussed a number of topics including railway research, railway safety, high speed development and UIC events in Japan, notably the 8th training session on high speed systems in Tokyo which was postponed due to the earthquake. However he declared that when the sessions are held in Tokyo, RTRI will provide support e.g. sending lecturers, invitation for the technical visit. The conference ended with an hour’s networking in a sociable atmosphere.