The Executive Scientific and Organising Committee meetings of the UIC World Congress on High-Speed Rail, UIC HIGHSPEED 2020, to be held in Beijing, were held at UIC HQ on 24 January.

Representatives from Chinese Railways (CR) as well as from CARS (China Academy of Railway Sciences) joined the UIC team working on the organisation of this UIC major event, led by Mr Marc Guigon, Director of the UIC Passenger Department. Both the UIC Passenger and Communications Departments are involved in the preparation of this event. During the executive scientific meeting, a roadmap for the 2019/2020 congress preparation was presented. The strategy for the call for papers was also discussed. The process will be launched before summer in order to select the speakers. The overall programme of the congress was agreed. In parallel, the High-Speed Alliance of Universities will be in charge of organising a competition for students or any enhancement of student achievements.

The organising meeting met on the same day, 24 January. The aim of this first meeting was to discuss together the first decisions to be taken concerning the organisation of the Congress. The motto of this congress is “Augmenting Intelligent Mobility”. Among the subjects discussed, participants at the meeting talked about the identity of the event, the communications aspects, in order to be able to promote the event in the near future. The organisational aspects were also introduced. The discussions will be continued during the next executive scientific and organising meetings to be held at UIC HQ on 12 March.