US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has confirmed attendance
UIC HIGHSPEED 2012, the 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail, will officially open on the morning of Wednesday 11 July 2012 in Philadelphia, USA, in the presence of a large number of prominent speakers and decision-makers involved in transport and railway issues. This world congress, the most important event entirely dedicated to the development and operations of high speed rail systems across the world, has become a worldwide reference. Over 1,000 participants have attended all previous editions, the most recent one successfully held in December 2010 in Beijing, China.
UIC HIGHSPEED 2012 will provide an extremely rich and lively conference programme, including official and plenary sessions, high-level round tables and parallel sessions dedicated to a large number of aspects related to high speed rail such as economy and finance, network planning, environment, operations, standards and interoperability, technology of rolling stock, infrastructure and traffic management, customer service and commercial issues, etc. Specific sessions entitled “High speed corridors” will offer opportunities to present existing or planned high speed rail projects across the world, including, of course, special focus on the USA.
In addition to the conference sessions, round tables and parallel sessions, the UIC HIGHSPEED 2012 Exhibition to be held at the Philadelphia Convention Center will be the venue to showcase the achievements of all major actors who actively contribute to the development of high speed rail, such as major railway manufacturers, suppliers for train and track equipment, rail service providers, railway companies and a host of institutions.
A train display is being organised in cooperation with national passenger company Amtrak.
UIC HIGHSPEED 2012 is jointly being organised by UIC and the American Public Transportation Association APTA in close cooperation with UIC’s North American members: the US Department of Transportation, the Association of American Railroads AAR, passenger company Amtrak and VIA RAIL Canada. The Scientific Committee in charge of finalising the congress content is led by Michel Leboeuf, SNCF, Chairman of the UIC High Speed Plenary Committee, with the support of Ignacio Barron de Angoiti, Director of the UIC Passenger and High Speed Department, and with the participation of all railways with experience or projects related to high speed.
At the Opening Session on Wednesday 11 July, a large number of prominent decision-makers are invited to take the floor, including US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood – who has confirmed his participation – the Heads of UIC and APTA, a panel of Transport Ministers and Railway Presidents and CEOs from countries with high speed-rail operations, and Heads of international/European institutions, etc.
UIC HIGHSPEED provides a unique opportunity to benchmark and exchange experience and best practice on high speed rail development and operations. It is the place to be for networking with all stakeholders and all actors in the field of high speed rail across the world: political leaders, economic and financial decision-makers, heads of rail operators and infrastructure managers, and representatives of the rail industry, research centres and standards bodies.
A specific activity programme during the congress will involve 12 students from China, Germany, Finland, Portugal and the USA, selected as part of an international students’ competition.
Only 50 days left to register for the 8th UIC HIGHSPEED world congress!
Congress website: www.uic-highspeed2012.com
