During the week of 17 – 21 March 2014, the headquarters of the Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (Spanish Railway Foundation) hosted the second “Training on High Speed Systems – Advanced Level” – the high speed training programme organised each year by the UIC Passenger and High Speed Department – with this year’s programme featuring an advanced training session (Level 2).

This training programme aims to give a comprehensive and conceptual overview of high speed rail systems, building on the experience and cooperation acquired by UIC members in the construction and operation of this type of system, and encompassing two levels.

While the basic level is mainly a theoretical, week-long programme held at the UIC headquarters in Paris, the course ends with a technical visit to one of the European high speed systems. The 10th edition of the course programme, which has trained over 400 professionals from around the world, will be held from 26 – 31 May.

The advanced level course held in Madrid is the second edition and also a one-week course, which focuses more on strategic aspects of high speed systems such as outlining high speed lines and networks, interaction of high speed rail in cities, traffic forecasting, analysis of operating costs, etc.

In addition, the course offers students the opportunity to discuss practical cases (for which Renfe has developed a specific software application called “High Speed Rail Designer”) and various technical visits throughout the week.

The course programme, which was delivered in English, was attended by 26 students from eight countries (Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Iran, Japan, Korea and China) and 20 lecturers from seven countries (Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Korea, Japan and China).

Both the advanced and basic levels of this training programme – the only one of its kind in the world – have been successfully carried out thanks to collaboration from Renfe Operadora, Adif and the Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (Spanish Railway Foundation).