The 10th UIC World Congress on High Speed Rail, the largest international congress and exhibition devoted to High-Speed Rail in the world, will be held from 8 to 11 May 2018 in Ankara at the Chamber of Commerce Convention Center. The main theme is “Sharing knowledge for sustainable and competitive operations”.
This World Congress – and Exhibition – on High-Speed Rail is the biggest event organised at global level entirely focusing on all aspects of high-speed rail development and operations.
This 10th edition is jointly organised by UIC and Turkish State Railways (TCDD), under the high-patronage of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey and with the support of the Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, and of a series of leading international organisations: Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF), International Transport Forum (ITF) of the OECD, Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The heads of these organisations will attend and speak at this congress, as well as the representatives of the United Nations’ UNECE and UITP.
A large number of CEOs of UIC member railways from all parts of the world are going to present and discuss their experiences and perspectives for the future of High-Speed Rail operations. Discussions during round tables will also involve representatives of research institutes, manufacturers, universities and competitors from other modes.
This 10th edition of the Congress is being organized around 3 main blocks: sessions, professional exhibition and technical visits. 4 plenary sessions and 25 parallel sessions will revolve around the most significant technical, economic and social streams. In addition, 2 round tables will give participants the opportunity to interact and exchange knowledge.
Strong focus will be placed during round tables on the following topics:
- “New competition and co-operation – Which impact on High-Speed Rail business?”
- “How can High-Speed Rail shape or reshape regional and local development?”.
The parallel sessions will deal with 5 main streams: infrastructure, railway system, operations and stations, trains, and finally commercial, economy and society.
A special session will be dedicated to the digital revolution and its impact on mobility, to the work of start-ups and universities connected to high-speed rail and more generally to mobility.
The trade exhibition on 8 – 11 May is open to all actors and partners who are committed to the operations of high-speed rail systems across the world: manufacturers of rolling stock, contractors of infrastructure, safety and security infrastructure, service providers, solutions for passengers and stations.
A programme of technical visits to the high-speed sites of Turkish State Railways is proposed to congress participants (new high-speed railway station in Ankara, new high-speed maintenance workshop, running on new high-speed line).
Since the introduction of High-Speed Rail system, more than 15 billion(to be checked) 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 (to be checked) 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.
This congress is also an excellent opportunity to travel from Ankara to Konya (Turkey’s cultural centre) by high speed rail and to visit Ankara’s brand new railway station.
