Conference Day One

Conference day one - Wednesday 14th February

08:30 Registration and coffee

PLENARY SESSION

09:00 Chairman’s opening address

 Chris Jackson, Editor,  Railway Gazette International

09:10    Welcome address from RENFE

             Javier Perez Sanz
             Director General of Commuter and Mid Distance Services
             Renfe

TRANSFORMING THE EUROPEAN RAILWAYS

09:30 Keynote address: overcoming the challenges facing the European railway industry – developing strategy for long-term growth

• Breaking the mould: transforming innovation into profitable initiatives
• Achieving sustainable growth
• Interoperability and cross-border data exchanges
• The role of rail as an economic driver
• Meeting the needs of all public stakeholders and investors
  
   Mauro Moretti
   Chief Executive Officer
   Ferrovie dello Stato Group

EU REFORMS

10:00 Are we making progress with the implementation of the EU's railway policy?

• How close are we to seeing implementation of the first and second railway packages by all Member States?
• Timetable for the adoption of the third railway package
• Strategic reactions of rail companies adapting to an open and competitive market
• Progress on efficient, cost-based transport infrastructure pricing
• The contribution of rail to sustainable development in the EU
• Providing a network for competitive European rail freight transport
• Ensuring regulatory framework conditions to facilitate investment in international rail transport
  
               Enrico Grillo-Pasquarelli
               Director for Inland Transport
               European Commission

10:30 Coffee

11:15 Panel session: what is a realistic timetable for realising seamless cross-border passenger and  freight transport by rail?

• Overcoming continuing technical, regulatory and political barriers to international rail transport
• How to facilitate investment in modern technologies for international rail transport?
• A network for international rail freight services
• No frontiers – what blocks entrepreneurial actions to better serve the European rail customers?
  
    Enrico Grillo-Pasquarelli, Director for Inland Transport, European Commission
    Antoine Hurel, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Veolia Transport
    Denis Douté, VP International Corporate Development, Fret SNCF
    Johannes Ludewig, Executive Director, Community of European Railway and Infrastructure  Companies
    Tom Winsor, Partner and Global Head of Railways, White & Case, Rail Regulator and International    Rail Regulator, Great Britain, 1999-2004

12:00 Luncheon welcome address:
 Robert Brown, Marketing Director, Jeppesen

12:10 Speed Networking
Bring 100+ business cards
 

12:50 Lunch sponsored by:

PASSENGER STREAM

Session chaired by:
Julian Smith, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

PASSENGER GROWTH AND REVENUE OPTIMISATION

14:20  Case study: maximising revenue through innovative products and marketing initiatives –  launching a low-cost train service

• Megatrain.com - attracting new passengers to help maximise network capacity with flexible, value-for-money pricing
• Yield management: pricing effectively but fairly - learning lessons from other transport modes
• Diversification of sales channels
• Understanding the relationship between pricing, yield management and customer satisfaction
• Lessons learned since the launch of the service
  
   Ian Dobbs
   Chairman, South West Trains and Chief Executive Stagecoach Rail
   Stagecoach Group Plc

14:50 Can competition alone attract greater passenger numbers?

• Competition in Europe’s railway market today – is it a viable proposition?
• What are the results to date – is competition attracting more passengers?
• The effect of intra-modal competition on passenger rail business
• Experiences of outsourcing the running of passenger transport systems to the private sector

Andrew Harvey
 Operations Director
 Keolis S.A. 
 
15:20 Coffee

16:00 Challenges for ÖBB in the South-Eastern European railway market

• Rail Cargo Austria AG is aiming at a leading position in this market by:
   - Optimising the entire production and logistic chain
   - Introducing new products and distribution processes
   - Establishing partnership strategies (close cooperation and alliances)
• Enhancing passenger service quality through:
   - New rolling stock and new information services
   - Reduced travel times
   - New products for new target groups
   - CRM and continuous quality monitoring
  
   Martin Huber
   Chief Executive Officer
   Ã–BB - Austrian Federal Railways

PASSENGER PROJECTS

16:30  Passenger projects in Belgium – upgrading high speed lines and suburban networks

• Status of high speed network development and performance
• Project status and finance scenario: managing the project in a cost-effective way
  
   Luc Vansteenkiste
   Managing Director Access to the Network
   Infrabel SA

17:00 Panel session: winning the battle against the airlines – high-speed rail going from strength to strength?

• The state of competition between high speed rail and low cost airlines in 2007
• Realising the benefit of a trans-European network
• The role of a future railway alliance – co-ordinating schedules and introducing through-ticketing
• How can we successfully implement loyalty programmes?  Introducing customer benefits to grow the passenger business
  
   Jan Forsberg, CEO, SJ AB
   Richard Middleton, Associate, Steer Davies Gleave
   Paul Keser, Business Unit Director, Rail, Amadeus SAS

17:45 Close of day one followed by EuroRail’s Gala 10th Anniversary Reception

FREIGHT STREAM
 
Session chaired by:
Arthur-Iren Martini, Secretary General, Netzwerk Privatbahnen e.V.   

RAIL FREIGHT LIBERALISATION AND COMPETITION

14:20  Case study: the private operator perspective - approaches to operating in today’s rail freight  market

• Open access in 2007 – are we any better off than before?
• Emerging business models in an increasingly competitive industry
• Moving from production to market orientation
• How to be successful as new entrant in European rail freight
• Challenges of running profitable services and prospects for the future
• Co-operating with other modes to maximise opportunities afforded by rail
  
   Raimund Stüer
   CMO
   TX Logistik AG

14:50 Crewing and asset management on a European level

• Strategies for keeping track of crew and assets internationally
• Assessing the role of duplicate management structures
• Ensuring correct licenses are in place when operating across different networks
• EU initiatives: international licensing for train crew
  
   Miguel Llevat
  General Manager
   COMSA Rail Transport

15:20 Coffee

PROGRESS IN EUROPEAN RAIL FREIGHT DEVELOPMENT

16:00 Stakeholder panel session: are rail services capable of delivering a service that matches customer  and stakeholder expectations?

• Borderless transport and logistic services in terms of cost, service, speed and quality
• Making rail freight more flexible and competitive
• Intermodal transport: improving connections between ports and railways
• Barriers to entry: the future of rail freight versus road transport
• Managing freight flows
• What will the impact of freight liberalisation be?
• Experiences of running single wagon services
  
  Emilio Fernández Fernández, Chairman and Executive Director, Transfesa
  Detlef Golletz, Assistant Director of Infrastructure, South East England Development Agency, Impacte – Port Freight Connectivity in North West Europe
  Henk Schaafstal, Head of Demand Chain Engineering, Chemicals & Intermediates, SABIC  Hydrocarbons B.V.
  Dr. Jürgen Sorgenfrei, Chairman, Port of Hamburg
   
  16:45 Setting the scene from the UK perspective – rail freight and a growing economy
• Co-modality challenges
• Necessity of port hinterland access
• Spatial planning and economic growth agenda
• Private and public sector funding model
  
  Detlef Golletz
  Assistant Director of Infrastructure
  South East England Development Agency
  Impacte – Port Freight Connectivity in North West Europe

17:15 Moving towards a dedicated rail freight network - the definitive solution for rail freight  transportation?

• Interoperability – what is driving and blocking international rail freight?
• Optimising time table planning of rail freight needs
• Increasing the priority of freight over passenger traffic – how and when will this happen?
• The role of private sector participation in developing a dedicated rail freight network
• Benefits of dual energy locomotives: infrastructure cost, environmental impact and operational limits
  
   Franco Castagnetti
   Overall Project Manager, New Opera
   Vice President,  The European Freight & Logistics Leaders Forum

17:45 Close of day one followed by EuroRail’s Gala 10th Anniversary Reception