Over 2,800 exhibitors from the world’s railway companies, associations, and manufacturers, among others, gathered for InnoTrans at the Messe Berlin from 20 to 23 September 2022. After a four-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, this edition attracted many high-profile visitors and companies eager to share the latest rail developments.
For the first time, ONCF (Office National des Chemins de Fer du Maroc), Morocco’s national railway operator, and UIC, the International Union of Railways, shared a stand at InnoTrans to promote the 11th UIC World Congress on High-Speed Rail (WCHSR) to be held from 7 to 10 March 2023 at the Convention Centre in Marrakech, Morocco. The WCHSR is held every two to three years since 1992 and is renowned worldwide as the most prominent global event on high-speed rail, addressing both HSR operation and technology issues. The Congress will feature round tables, conferences, and technical visits for over 1,500 participants.
High-level personalities attended the event on the ONCF-UIC stand, notably Mr Mohammed Abdeljalil, the Minister of Transportation and Logistics of Morocco; Mrs Zohour Alaoui, the ambassador of Morocco in Germany; Mr Mohamed Rabie Khlie, ONCF Director General and President of the UIC African Region; Mr Mohammed Smouni, Deputy Director General Coordination and Development at ONCF; Mr Saïd Chandid, Strategy, Cooperation and Quality Director at ONCF; Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General; Mr Marc Guigon, UIC Passenger Director; and Mr Philippe Lorand, Senior Advisor, High-Speed Rail, Passenger, at UIC.
For more information on WCHSR, please visit: https://uichighspeed.org/ You can still send your abstracts (½ page) for the Call for Papers until 15 October 2022. If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please visit the sponsorship page.
This year at InnoTrans, the Ukrainian Railways were the guest of honour at the PKP Group stand, where Mr Krzysztof Mamiński, CEO of Polish State Railways JSC and UIC Chairman, and Mr Oleksandr Kamyshin, CEO of JSC Ukrainian Railways, held a press conference. Mr Mamiński stated: “Events in recent months have led to cooperation between the PKP Group and Ukrainian Railways on a scale never seen before.” Read the press release of PKP here.
Similarly, the UIC European Management Committee (EMC) took the opportunity at their autumn meeting in Berlin to consider a number of core topics and reaffirm their position of Unity, Solidarity and Universality in line with the UIC core values and in light of the current geopolitical context in Europe. Read the UIC press release here.
The 2022 programme of InnoTrans showed the sector’s willingness to share projects, achievements, and strategies. The elaborate exhibits offered a peak into the latest developments in rail research. At the MERMEC dinner in Berlin, Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, stated: “UIC has the tools to greatly underpin the move towards the innovative railway of tomorrow.”
The UIC delegation used this opportunity to meet partners from international companies and colleagues from working groups based in Berlin in and out of the fair. They also showcased some of the UIC working group projects, such as 5GRail, presented on the UNIFE stand by Mr Jean-Michel Evanghelou, UIC Deputy Railway System Director. At the invitation of Europe’s Rail JU, UIC and RailNetEurope (RNE) performed on their stand a live demonstration of the automatic translation prototype tool developed in the context of the Translate4Rail project. Ms Sandra Géhénot, UIC Freight Director, and Ms Parinaz Bazeghi, Senior Freight Advisor, performed said demonstration.
