The theme of the conference is “Railway Stations Boosting the City”
(Paris, 8 March 2019) UIC, the worldwide railway organisation, is co-organising with Iranian Railways RAI the 7th International conference on railway stations “UIC nextstation 2019”, which will take place in Tehran from 11 – 13 November 2019. All information can now be found at https://nextstation.org
This kind of UIC international conference is the opportunity every two years to exchange on best practices, to learn more about innovations, to network with other railway representatives from the world of mobility. This international conference, which will welcome high-level personalities from the political and economic world, international institutions, experts, researchers, students, from Iran, the Middle-East as well as from other parts of the world, will be the occasion to exchange on several key subjects such as Station Management and Station Financing, Sustainability and Energy Efficiency, Mobility, Accessibility and Interconnectivity, Services & Commercial, Interaction between stations and cities, Station Design, Safety & Security, and Smart Technology. Two round tables will be an opportunity to discuss “Rail based city” and “Generating added value for cities: main challenges”. In addition to the conference, participants will have the possibility to discover the railway station of Esfahan on 13 November.
UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux said: “Since their development, stations have always been interesting places: places of interface between intracity and intercity mobility, between all modes of transport, in a sustainable combination. Beyond their historic importance, we have to highlight their role in global travel, of which they are the cause, the consequence, and the symbol. Around the world 1 million kilometres of rail infrastructure carry one million trains everyday which transport 100 million passengers from or to around 10,000 stations. But on this huge network each station is unique as a social mirror of its city, its country, its people.
Railway stations also have the capacity to make us dream, to dream of the smart mobilities of tomorrow, by inviting younger generations to dream even higher and smarter than the heritage our forefathers left us. In a nutshell, here is the spirit of the last UIC nextstation conference, which took place in 2017 in Madrid. Which now transmits the torch to the Tehran conference to be held in November 2019. I give the floor to François Davenne, upcoming Director General of UIC, who will make the transition with the Tehran edition.”
UIC Deputy Director General François Davenne added: “UIC nextstation usually gives the opportunity every two years to bring together all the actors involved in this complex object that the station represents. This year, the theme is “Railway stations boosting the city”, that is to say that we will bring together actors from all horizons to understand what stations bring to the urban life, taking into account all the possible angles.
Indeed, a station is the entry point to the backbone of the railways. It is now well understood, as transport and structural functions to the city, railway stations must be adapted to the new characteristics of the city, and because the city is changing, the station must follow the same model. Which means that if cities turn into smart cities, stations have to become smart stations. This is one of the main strategic axes which form the station sector activity.
We are living in an increasingly digital world, and what we will explore is the capacity of the stations of the future to play their role of smart interfaces. Stations should interface smoothly with the complex ecosystem of the local transports, whether they are public or private, on one hand, and with the rail system, on the other hand, that ensure both regional and long-distance transport. We have here a huge technical challenge, in particular for dealing with big data management in order to offer the best services possible, but also privacy and a high level of cyber-security.
Beyond those technical aspects, we have above all a common purpose. We all know that whatever happens, urban mobility will increase, an there is a very simple reason for that: we will live increasingly in cities, not only in Europe or Asia, but also in Africa. If we want our cities to offer healthy, safe and sustainable public space we need to transform the stations of today into the smart connecting nodes of the polycentric cities of tomorrow.
From our collective thinking during the UIC nexstation event in Tehran in November 2019 will emerge concrete and shared solutions. Particularly the role of the station in generating the cities. Arak, in Iran, is a new city generated by the building of a railway station.
So save the date! and do not hesitate to join us in Tehran on 11 – 13 November!
Mr Saeid Rasouli, Vice Minister and President of Iranian Raiways RAI said about UIC nexstation conference: “nextstation 2019 will be dedicated to the theme “Railway Stations Boosting the City”. Being a subject of interest for the rail transport players and experts, the event will be a platform for decision-makers, representatives of industries and academic individuals to share information and exchange experiences concerning the latest developments on designing and operating rail stations across the world, stations governance, multimodality of stations, security, etc.
During the conference, we would like to discuss the future of railway stations’ needs with a systemic approach, its connectivity with the city and how the railway stations feed commercial and social ties. Nowadays, policy-makers and transport activists pay serious attention to certain concepts such as commercialisation, economisation of activities, improvement of efficiency and quality of services. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to create certain conditions such as the modernisation of railway stations. In this regard RAI, as one of the largest rail networks in the Middle-East, is pleased to host the UIC nextstation 2019 for the first time in the region.”
Information about the themes, practical information and registration at: https://nextstation.org