From 13 – 17 June, 15 students from 8 countries in Asia drawn from every level of seniority in their companies participated in a number of highly technical and in-depth lectures on topics ranging from urban/suburban railways to information technology in the railways, new technologies such as Maglev and station layout. These training sessions, organised by the UIC Asian Region, Korail and Vietnam Railways as part of the IRaTCA (International Railway Training Centre for Asia), were held in Uiwang, Republic of Korea. The participants mainly had technical backgrounds (experts and directors) and in particular included Deputy Director-General of Vietnam Railways Mr Nguyen Dat Tuong.

Alongside lecturers from the Korean rail sector, the topic of high speed was presented for the first time by Mr Ignacio Barron, UIC Passenger Director, and a specialist in the subject, while that of railway liberalisation in Europe and the world was delivered by Mr Vincent Vu, UIC Director of Institutional Relations. Finally, as in previous years, several non-member countries were invited to see what UIC could offer them in terms of training and knowledge sharing: this was the case, among others, for Nepal and Bhutan Railways. A large Mongolian delegation was also present.

Given the success of this 3rd session, the UIC Asian Region is proposing other development programmes in its list of projects for 2012. The UIC Asian Region and IRaTCA expect to see all their members again in September during the 4th meeting of training networks in Ulan Bator in Mongolia.