The 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail, jointly organised by UIC and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), and in close partnership with all UIC North American members, started on Wednesday in Philadelphia, USA, in the presence of over 1,000 participants representing the worldwide rail sector.

UIC HIGHSPEED is the unique platform at global level to benchmark and exchange on all issues determining the planning, construction and operations of high speed rail systems across the world.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director-General, expressed great satisfaction in holding this world conference for the first time on the North American continent, at a time when important political decisions are being taken towards the development of the first high speed rail services in the United States. The opening addresses were given by Yoshio Ishida, Chairman of UIC, Gary Thomas, Chairman of APTA, Michael P. Melaniphy, President and CEO of APTA and US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. Ray LaHood presented the latest perspectives for the introduction of high speed rail in America and insisted that today’s generation has to leave high speed rail as a legacy to the next generation.

“The UIC Congress in the USA is a unique opportunity at a time when dreams can become reality for the next generations”, said Ray LaHood.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director-General, said “UIC, as a kind of Federal Association around the world of rail operators and specialists, is happy and ready to support the American vision for high speed through the accumulated experience of all its members.”

The opening included a high-level panel of Ministers and Railway Presidents who described the achievements and perspectives for high speed rail in their respective countries following a “World Tour of High Speed”. Key speakers included Mr Osamu Yoshida, Senior Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan; Mr Huawu HE, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Railways of the P.R of China; Mr Süleyman Karaman, President of Turkish Railways (TCDD), Chairman of UIC Middle-East Region; Mr Mauro Moretti, CEO of Italian Railways (FS), UIC Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER); Mr Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways (RZD); Mr Marcel Verslype, Executive Director of the European Railway Agency (ERA); Mr Guillaume Pepy, President of SNCF, Chairman of UIC European Region; Mr Marc Descheemaecker, CEO of Belgium Railways (SNCB), Chairman of UIC Passenger Forum; and Mr Apolinar Rodriguez, representing Spain.

The present status of high speed rail around the world was also presented by Mr Ignacio Barron de Angoiti, UIC Passenger and High Speed Director, followed by a presentation of the Congress programme by Mr Michel Leboeuf, French National Railways (SNCF) and Chairman of the UIC HIGHSPEED 2012 Scientific Committee. The programme followed by parallel sessions on all specific aspects of high speed rail developments and operations. Two high-level round tables on 12 and 13 July were dedicated respectively to the question “How to deliver a high speed rail project in today’s economic context?” (moderated by Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC) and on 13 July to the question “What part can high speed rail play in the future transport market?” (moderated by Michael P. Melaniphy, APTA).

During the course of the three days, participants will have the opportunity to become familiar with the products of over one hundred exhibitors at the UIC HIGHSPEED Exhibition as well as the rolling stock and equipment displayed by Amtrak and SEPTA at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.

Under the title “High-Speed Rail – Fast Track to Sustainable Mobility”, UIC has published a new brochure for the UIC HIGHSPEED world congress in Philadelphia that aims to present all aspects and challenges connected with the introduction and operations of high-speed rail systems.

The brochure firstly defines high-speed rail: a specific rail system that requires specific trains (high-speed train sets), specific dedicated lines and specific traffic management or signalling systems. Nevertheless this specific train system ensures an optimal compatibility and interoperability with the conventional rail system (this compatibility being one of the main advantages of the system).

Under the wording “High Speed Rail and Sustainability”, the brochure describes how high-speed rail offers citizens and political decision-makers an effective tool to achieve a genuinely sustainable transport system. The main advantages of HSR for society as a whole are illustrated through figures on External Environment Costs (average costs of noise, accidents, air pollution, CO2 emissions and contribution to climate change, effect on nature and landscapes, urban effects, compared with the various transportation modes), as well as figures on energy efficiency, comparison of land use between modes, etc.

The new brochure provides a clear overview on technical conditions required for the implementation of high-speed rail: technical conditions regarding the design and construction of infrastructure, rolling stock, equipment for traffic management. It also highlights the specific constraints for high-speed rail operations, in particular in terms of traffic planning and density, train control systems, safety and security, etc. Strong focus is placed on the strategic value of stations (in terms of railway operations and multimodality, business and revenue source, contribution to urban planning…) and design concepts for high-speed rail services.

The new UIC brochure also addresses the strategic aspects of financing high-speed rail systems and reducing operating costs.

It provides readers with an overview of the main high-speed rail systems currently in operation or under development in Europe, North and Latin America, Asia.Finally, the new brochure describes UIC’s main activities aiming to effectively promote the introduction or smooth operation of high-speed rail systems across the world, in particular through collecting statistics and data on high-speed, achieving a worldwide benchmark between systems, communication on success stories and (commercial as well as social) advantages of this type of transportation (by organising regular world congresses such as UIC HIGHSPEED, information and training sessions on high-speed, publishing studies and reports connected to high-speed, etc.).

The brochure is available at: http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article608

This week – which has brought together the world’s railway leaders as part of the 8th UIC HIGHSPEED Congress held in Philadelphia from 11 - 13 July – a special day was organised on 10 July by UIC and APTA (American Public Transport Association) for key players from railways worldwide to meet representatives of Congress at the United States Capitol. This day served as an opportunity for all participants to freely share their experiences of high speed rail, at a time when the United States is considering the issue and taking the first decisions towards developing high speed services, particularly in California.

A special train chartered by Amtrak thus carried around 20 international railway leaders from Philadelphia to Washington, including Mr Satoshi Seino, Chairman of East Japan Railway Company (EJRC); Mr Yoshio Ishida, Chairman of UIC; Mr Vladimir Yakunin, CEO of Russian Railways (RZD); Mr Guillaume Pepy, President of French Railways (SNCF) and Chairman of UIC Europe; Mr Mauro Moretti, CEO of Italian Railways (FS), Vice-Chairman of UIC and Chairman of CER; Mr Süleyman Karaman, President of Turkish Railways (TCDD) and Chairman of the UIC Middle-Eastern Region; Mr Marc Laliberté, President and Chief Executive Officer of Via Rail Canada; Mr Marc Descheemaecker, CEO of Belgian Railways (SNCB); and Mrs Ingrid Nuelant, Deputy CEO of Thalys International.

Nine committee-style discussion groups were formed with various members of Congress involved in the “High Speed Caucus”, in order to better assess the positive environmental, economic and social outcomes of high speed rail and to explain the momentum which is building across the globe for the development of new infrastructure, corridors, stations and services.

A group lunch was held, during which Chairmen Satoshi Seino, Guillaume Pepy, Mauro Moretti, Valdimir Yakunin and Yoshio Ishida outlined high speed developments across the world. The overview started with Japan, where high speed rail began 50 years ago, followed by developments in Europe undertaken since the 1980s, and concluding with the decisions taken concerning high speed development in Russia.

Marc Descheemaecker (SNCB), Süleyman Karaman (TCDD) and Joaquim Otero (ADIF) also shed further light on the topic during a number of question-and-answer and discussion sessions.

This day of political discussions – held during a period when the United States has just voted on its transport budget, and when the Californian Senate has recently agreed on the financing of the high speed project in the state of California – came at an appropriate juncture. The day gave a symbolic and visionary feel to the UIC HIGHSPEED Congress, which was inaugurated that very evening in Philadelphia, in the presence of the most prominent representatives of American railway companies.