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IRF 2008 closes as the major meeting point for the rail sector
The 6th edition of the International Rail Forum, which has once again become a major meeting point for professionals in the rail sector, has closed its doors at the IFEMA trades fair pavilion in Madrid. For three days, politicians, administrations, companies and experts in the rail industry, at national and international levels, have met in the capital to debate, exhibit and present all new developments and to discuss the new policies guiding the sector. More than 10,200 m² of exhibition space housed the latest developments from the more than 120 companies which exhibited at this sixth edition of the Rail Forum, which was attended by around 6,000 visitors, wanting to find out about the latest trends.
In turn, the congress parallel to the exhibition was a great success. Between the 11th and 13th November, IRF 2008 became a worldwide debate forum for the rail sector. This sixth edition of the IRF boasted delegates of the calibre of the Saudi Arabian Minister for Transport, Jobarah E. Al_Suraisry, the Madrid Region’s Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Ignacio Echeverría, the Managing Director of UNIFE, Michael Clausecker, the Vice-Director General - DG TREN of the European Commission, or the City of Buenos Aires’ Vice-secretary for Transport, among others. This year, representation from overseas has been greater than at other editions, and this has provided a more global view of the world rail sector. IRF 2008 gathered representatives from more than 30 countries such as Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela. More than a thousand delegates were able to attend the more than 100 conferences and debates organised during the International Rail Forum, dealing with topics as diverse as European rail policy, transport liberalisation for passengers and goods, rail maintenance policies, or the different forms of financing, along with the harmonisation of signalling systems, or new technologies being applied to tracks, rolling stock, safety, communications etc.
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