Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) in cooperation with the UIC, held a three-day International Forum on Transport Innovation with international attendance.
During the opening of the Forum, Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux stressed the good positioning of UIC to see the link between transport and the economy through the mobility of goods and persons and the growing role of the railways in modern societies of the 21st century. We see the political fragmentation of short-term visions .We see economic difficulties all over the world – not everywhere the same but growing difficulties. The railway system’s need for growing investments, a long-term vision and international corridors to allow railways full capacity to go further.
But the opposite is happening with rail, and railways are recognised by politicians and by financial institutions as one of the driving modes of transportation for this 21st century. This is maybe because of capacity, safety and sustainability. The increasing movement of populations to the cities needs an optimum solution that only railways can offer as a backbone with other modes of transportation. We need to grow together with other modes of transportation by:
- A new vision
- A better perception of railways for society
- Optimisation of each mode with added value and quality, in complementarity with railways as a backbone of a new scheme
- INNOVATION – the subject of this seminar in Seoul
The KRRI president Mr Soon-Man Hong, stressed the necessary step forward to new technologies in order to improve the quality of our lives with greater satisfaction and convenience. Innovative ideas for future railway systems are what KRRI values the most to overcome the limitations of existing railway systems.
By the voice of his Transport Deputy Minister for Transportation, Hyung-ku Yeo, the Government of Korea, observed the importance of innovative railways technology, even more so with their effort toward the Eurasian network connecting to Korea. He believes the Eurasian railway network would be a great advance not only with economic influence, but to transform the regions into an area of harmony, openness and co-prosperity.
The conference was attended by representatives of UNECD, UNESCAP, Russian Institute of Research, USA Department of State for Transportation, China Academy of Railways, Czech Institute for Railway Research (VUZ) and others Europeans and Asian universities and research representatives.
Teodor Gradinariu, Senior Technical Advisor, on behalf of UIC, introduced the topic of Asset Management as an innovative system in the management of railway companies. On the second day he delivered a presentation on High Speed in the world, lessons learned for the future (on behalf of Ignacio Barron, Director of the UIC Passenger Department).
A set of very interesting and innovative research – presented by the participating speakers and interesting panels of experts and deciders – is available on streaming on the dedicated website:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/44833858
In the near future, all the presentations will be available on the UIC website.
The seminar concluded on the last day with a technical visit to a number of interesting sites such as HS train depot, Hyundai-Rtem facility, a centralised train control (CTC) and a test ride on the new HS train.
