On June 5, 2024, as a concurrent event of the 17th Shanghai International Exhibition for Intercity and Urban Mass Transit, the opening forum of the 2024 China International Railway Conference for Urban & Intercity Transit (CIRC) – the 2024 Global Rail Transit Corporation Conference (GRTCC) – was grandly held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. This exhibition and conference received strong support from Ministry of Transport Indonesia (MOT Indonesia) , the Ministry of Railways India (India Railways) , International Monorail Association (IMA) , the German Rail Industry Association (VDB) , the Indonesia Transportation Society (MTI) , and the Malaysia Railway Industry Corporation (MARIC) . More than 20 government leaders and experts from more than 10 countries, including China, Germany, Indonesia, Türkiye, Malaysia, Laos, Singapore, India, Thailand, France, Russia, etc., carried out in-depth discussions on the development trend, policy and project planning, technological innovation and other important issues of domestic and foreign railway and urban rail transit. The scene was filled with high friends, and attendees actively discussed the new trends in the development of the rail transit industry. They unanimously expressed their willingness to work together to address the challenges and new opportunities faced by the global railway rail market!

The opening forum was first welcomed by Dai Qi, the second level bureau rank official of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Transportation, Gu Chunting, the vice chairman of the Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai, Zhou Huai, the executive vice president and secretary-general of the Shanghai Transportation Trade Association, Yang Zhongmin, the deputy secretary-general of the China Local Railway Association, and Roger Dirksmeier, the vice president of the International Monorail Association. We thank all the attending guests and industry colleagues for attending this summit forum, and look forward to domestic and foreign railway and urban rail transit industry professionals continuing to work together to address new opportunities and challenges in the industry, and jointly promote the development of the global railway and urban rail transit industry. The morning session of this opening forum was hosted by Wu Jianghong, Vice President of Shanghai International Exhibition (Group) Co., Ltd. and Chairman and General Manager of Shanghai Intex Exhibition Co., Ltd.

The keynote speech in the morning took the rail transit market planning and industry outlook of countries along the the Belt and Road as the direction, and the sharing of several foreign rail transit governments and owners’ leaders brought new opportunities to domestic rail transit enterprises.
Mr. Mohamad Risal Wasal, Director General of Railways, Directorate General of Railways, Ministry of Transportation, Indonesia, gave a detailed interpretation of the huge investment and construction potential of the domestic railway industry market with the title “Foreseeing Indonesia: A Rail-Based Emerging Power “. He also released three potential Indonesian rail transit development projects on site, namely the Bandung City Train Project, Airport Train Project, and the New Capital Nusantara (IKN) City Train Project. The above-mentioned projects have enormous development potential and high investment return rates, which will create good opportunities for Chinese enterprises to explore the Indonesian market.

In his speech “Driving Innovation through Inclusive Leadership: Managing Change in Digital and Cultural Transformation within Rail and Metro Systems “, Özgür Soy, the CEO of Türkiye Istanbul Metro Group discussed the difficulties and challenges of leadership and organizational transformation faced by the rail transit industry. He described in detail how Istanbul Metro Group is committed to promoting gender equality among employees, and implementing the digital twin application technology to respond to transformation and change, so as to contribute to the sustainable development of the rail transit industry.

Ts.Malaysia Mazli Bin Mustafa, CEO of Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd, gave a speech titled “Sarawak Metro – Transforming public transport in the Malaysian city of Kuching “, highlighting the key project of Kuching City in Sarawak – the Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS), which includes the adoption of a zero carbon autonomous rapid transit (ART) system and hydrogen fuel buses. The speech showcases the latest achievements and progress of Sarawak in promoting green energy and improving urban transportation efficiency.

In the speech “The Potential of Integrated Rail-Based Urban Public Transportation in New Capital Nusantara, Republic of Indonesia “, Resdiansyah, Chief Urban Mobility of Nusantara Capital Authority, emphasized the integration potential of Nusantara based on urban rail transit system. He stated that the Indonesian government emphasizes the vision of “80% of public transportation using electric vehicles and autonomous driving”. As the new capital of Indonesia, Nusantara aims to promote economic and social development through its advanced infrastructure and economic development (including technology, renewable energy, and electric vehicles), thus becoming the future economic driving force and symbol of national identity in Indonesia.

Phengsuwan Vone, Deputy Director General of Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Lao PDR, in his speech “Lao Railways: Paving the Path for Global Integration”, focused on how Laos has achieved a major transformation from a landlocked country to a regional transport hub through the development of its railway infrastructure, especially the construction of the China Laos railway. The China Laos railway has not only greatly enhanced Laos’ connectivity with neighboring countries, trade and investment growth, but also enhanced Laos’ economic status in Southeast Asia and even the world. In addition, he introduced the important role of Laos’ railway system in promoting the facilitation of transportation and trade in the country, and looked forward to Laos’ active participation and contribution in global economic integration in the future.

Finally, Sim Vee Ming, Jeffrey, Group Chief Executive Officer of SBS Transit Ltd, introduced the strong global business network of SBS in Singapore, operating taxi, bus, and rail transit systems covering 9 countries, under the title of “SBS-Transit’s Transformation Journey”. He emphasized the priority solutions of SBS Transit in the field of safe, reliable, and sustainable public transportation, emphasizing its improvement measures in reliability, maintenance, safety, technology, and other aspects, and showcasing the sustainable development plan and innovative technology application of the new metro.

The morning agenda ended perfectly with a roundtable forum on the integration and development of international rail transit signals. Hosted by Professor Xu Zhongwei from Tongji University, guests such as Deputy Chief Engineer of Signaling & Telecommunications Engineer (development), Signaling & Telecommunications Department, State Railway of Thailand, Wang Xiaoyong, General Manager of the Rail Transit Product Center of Casco Signal Co., Ltd., and Li Guangbin, Chief Engineer of Shanghai Fuxin Intelligent Transportation Solutions Co., Ltd., deeply discussed the innovative application of rail transit signal technology and its core role in urban traffic management, and actively explored potential cooperation opportunities between China and foreign counterparts in the signal field in the future.

The agenda for the afternoon was hosted by Professor Chen Xiaohong, Director of the National Maglev Transportation Engineering R & D Center at Tongji University, Dean of the Rail Transit Research Institute at Tongji University. The speech covered professional topics such as operation and maintenance, ticket sales, survey and design, digital rail transit, and sustainable transportation.

Zhang Yu, Vice President of Shanghai Shentong Metro Group Co., Ltd. and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of Shanghai Metro Maintenance Co., Ltd., Shanghai Shentong Metro Group Co., Ltd., introduced the characteristics of ultra large scale networked equipment from the aspects of Shanghai Metro’s line network planning, operating mileage, operating interval, and fault sensitivity through the report “Construction of a large-scale networked equipment support system”, and emphasized the importance of reliability of key facilities and equipment for ensuring operation. At the same time, Shanghai Metro promotes high-quality development through the construction of a networked equipment guarantee system, integrated application of digital means, and construction of a mid platform production mode, in order to achieve equipment lifecycle management, improve project implementation energy efficiency, and optimize the system.

Gaurav Agarwal, Chief Mechanical Engineer of Ministry of Railways of India, gave a speech on the topic of “Pay with your face: Train ticketing for the coming decade”. He first reviewed the development process of existing train ticketing systems from paper tickets to smart cards, and then to mobile devices. He then pointed out the advantages and disadvantages of existing systems. Furthermore, he proposed a train ticket sales solution using facial recognition technology to achieve “facial recognition payment”, and elaborated on its working principle and implementation plan in detail.

Wang Xiaoyong, General Manager of Rail Transit Product Center of CASCO Signal Ltd., gave a speech titled “Digital Rail Transit: Innovation and Practice for Sustainable Travel”, which delved into the innovation and practice of digital rail transit, particularly its importance in promoting sustainable transportation. He provided a detailed introduction to the concepts and technological applications of digital railways and digital subways, demonstrating how to improve the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of rail transit through digital transformation. In addition, he emphasized the profound significance of sustainable transportation for economic and social development, as well as how to achieve this goal through DRT technology.

Xiao Bingquan, Deputy General Manager of Hunan CRRC Intelligent Transport Technology Co., Ltd., focused on “Innovation and Application of Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit System” and introduced the innovative application achievements, technical characteristics, and future vision of intelligent rail rapid transit system on a global scale. He elaborated on the technological innovation points of the intelligent rail rapid transit system, including intelligent driving technology, autonomous guidance system, traction braking and steering collaborative control technology, etc. In the future, the intelligent rail rapid transit system will continue to promote technological innovation and intelligent upgrading, committed to providing safer, more efficient, and greener transportation solutions for cities around the world.

Subsequently, Sanyawit Aphichatapong, Deputy Chief Engineer of Signaling & Telecommunications Engineer (development), Signaling & Telecommunications Department, State Railway of Thailand, introduced in a speech titled “Signalling’s Interface for implementation of Seamless Railway Operations between Thailand and neighboring countries” that Thailand is committed to unifying signal interface standards with neighboring countries, addressing technical differences and interoperability issues, in order to achieve cross-border seamless railway operations. Through technological cooperation and innovation, Thailand has made significant progress and looks forward to the future development of intelligent and high-speed railways, which will further promote the convenience and efficiency of cross-border railway transportation.

Zhao Dou, Deputy Chief Engineer of China Railway Design Group, National Excellent Engineer, demonstrated the international level of the design of the first high-speed railway in Southeast Asia, Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Railway, in his speech on the Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Railway Design Plan. The Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Railway integrates advanced domestic high-speed railway equipment manufacturing technology and design and construction concepts, making significant contributions to improving transportation efficiency and sustainable development in the Indonesian region.

François Dieu, CEO of Keolis Asia, Shanghai Keolis Public Transportation Operation Co., Ltd., gave a speech titled “Sharing the Experience of Shanghai Keolis’ Operation” to introduce the localization operation strategy of multinational rail transit companies in China. Shanghai Keolis integrates different transportation modes, builds an integrated network, provides efficient and convenient transportation solutions, and meets the needs of public transportation.

Finally, Evgeny Pismennyi, Deputy Director General, Railway Research Institute of Russian Railways, gave a speech titled “Perspective directions of scientific research of Russian Railways”, introducing that the institute has a century of research experience focused on high-speed railway testing, track infrastructure, power supply, and artificial intelligence research and development in multiple fields. The institution is committed to developing intelligent service systems such as EXPRESS automation control systems, utilizing advanced testing facilities and multidisciplinary research and development capabilities. It utilizes ELBRUS-M digital technology to predict train conditions and conducts in-depth research on high-speed railway line technology. We also provide comprehensive technical support, introduce diagnostic and monitoring technologies, reduce costs, improve security, and continuously innovate the application of digital twins, artificial intelligence and other technologies to improve operational efficiency and security.

The one-day forum has come to a successful end! Chinese and foreign guests at the conference highly praised the exciting and diverse topics presented at the 2024 Global Rail Transit Corporation Conference (GRTCC). Rail+Metro China has been committed to exploring new global trends in rail transit development with the domestic and international rail transit industry, promoting technological progress and innovation in the industry. In the future, we will continue to take the “international and professional cooperation and exchange platform” as the concept of holding exhibitions and conferences, practice the national the Belt and Road strategy, further expand international resources, enable Chinese enterprises to connect with overseas resources, open up channels for international rail transit industry brands to enter the domestic market, further help Chinese rail transit enterprises go out, and foreign enterprises enter the multilateral and open economic and trade platform of the domestic market.