UIC and the Turkish State Railways TCDD are organising UIC HIGHSPEED 2018, the 10th UIC World Congress on High-Speed Rail hosted by Turkish State Railways to be held in Ankara on 8-11 May 2018
The theme of the congress is “Sharing knowledge for sustainable and competitive operations”
UIC HIGHSPEED 2018, the 10th UIC world congress on High Speed Rail, is being organised by UIC, the worldwide railway association, and the Turkish State Railways (TCDD), in close cooperation with all UIC member railways. The congress will be held on 08-11 May 2018 in the Turkish capital Ankara, at the Congresium International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The Congress was initiated by UIC in 1992. Twenty-five years later, this 10th edition will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all High-Speed Rail professionals including decision makers, authorities, railway industry, railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, research institutes, universities and others to envision the future worldwide.
The Congress will be organised around the opening ceremony, 3 round tables, 25 parallel sessions, and the closing ceremony. A trade exhibition will be organised to illustrate the latest developments in high speed rail systems across the world. Several technical visits will be proposed on the last day of the Congress.
Since the introduction of this transport mode, more than 15 billion passengers have travelled on high speed trains at global level – twice the world’s population. High Speed is still experiencing development around the world. Turkey was particularly relevant for the location of this 10th World Congress on High Speed Rail. High speed rail operations in Turkey started in March 2009 on the Ankara-Eskisehir line, followed by Ankara-Konya in 2011, Konya-Eskisehir in 2013, Ankara-Istanbul and Konya-Istanbul in 2014.
Nowadays there are nearly 24,000 km of high speed lines operating in the world. In the next 20 years, this figure will double. This means a significant challenge from industrial, technological, financial and social points of view.
