The Organising Committee (OC) of the 11th UIC ERTMS World Conference, to be held from 2 – 4 April 2014 in Istanbul, met on 14 May in the city on the Bosphorus.
This 11th edition of the UIC ERTMS World Conference, to be hosted by Turkish State Railways (TCDD), will follow successful editions successively held in Malaga (2009) and Stockholm (2012). Each edition attracted several hundred participants to exchange on the latest developments and implementation experiences for both main components of the unified ERTMS rail traffic management system: ETCS (European Train Control System) and GSM-R (radio communications system for railways). The main theme of the 2014 ERTMS World Conference will be: “ ERTMS – Optimising Rail Investments Worldwide.”
The ERTMS Conference Organising Committee meeting in Istanbul was chaired by Hans-Günther Kersten, Director of the UIC Rail System Department, assisted by Mr George Barbu, UIC Rail System Department’s Senior Adviser for Signalling. They were joined by representatives of Turkish State Railways – delegation from the TCDD International Affairs Department led by its Director Ibrahim Cevik, and TCDD Istanbul Region – as well as representatives of the rail supply industry (UNIFE, Thales), the GSM-R Operators Group, the GSM-R Industry Group and the UIC Communications Department. The meeting was prepared by CMS Project, the professional conference organiser nominated by TCDD to prepare this important event in Turkey on behalf of UIC.
One of the main purposes of holding this OC meeting in Istanbul was to visit the three different conference venues proposed for the ERTMS Conference and the associated ERTMS Exhibition, in order to allow organisers to make the final decision within the next few days.
A large part of the meeting was dedicated to updating and clarifying the conference programme.
2 April will be dedicated to technical visits for which Turkish State Railways (TCDD) are currently studying several options (in connection with the major railway projects to be inaugurated in Istanbul). On 3 April following the official conference opening with the participation of Turkish authorities, TCDD, UIC, CER, ERA, UNIFE/ UNISIG, GSM Industry Group, the main sessions will successively address the following sub-themes:
- Users’ requirements
- State of the art – target situation
- Session dedicated to ERTMS suppliers
- Tools and practice to control the costs and optimise potential benefits
- Maximising benefits, reducing costs in Europe and other regions
- Technological progress in service of ERTMS
- Closing session with expression of views by railways, signalling industry and radio-communications industry
A first Save the Date and flyer are to be issued within the next few weeks.
