Conference Day two

Conference day two - Wednesday 15th February

08:30 Registration and coffee

PLENARY SESSION

08:50 Chairman’s opening address
           Chris Jackson, Editor,  Railway Gazette International

MODERNISING EUROPE’S RAILWAYS

09:00 Keynote address: Spain: a European reference for high-speed rail - an update on high speed- projects

• An overview of high-speed investment programmes in Spain
•  Opening of the Madrid-Barcelona-Malaga-Valladolid links

Challenges and successes of implementing ERTMS

 Vicente Gago
 Executive Director of Programming and Technical Coordination of High Speed Lines
 ADIF
 

09:30 Case study: ERTMS application in Switzerland

• The motivation and key drivers for ERTMS applications in Switzerland
• Migration Strategy for ERTMS rollout (trackside and rolling stock), the important economic role of ETCS Level 1 limited supervision
• Putting in place ETCS Level 2 on the new Swiss High Speed lines, operational experiences from the field
• Capacity enhancement through ERTMS
  
   Arnold Trümpi
   Head of ETCS
   Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)
   
  

10:00 Creating a more efficient railway through integrated IT solutions

• Approaching the increasing pressure to cut costs, save time and reduce exposure to risk
• Overcoming some of the obstacles and lessons learned by two of the worlds leading rail organisations
• How can joined-up thinking and integrated IT solutions helps maximise return on investment?
• Combining innovative ideas and industry expertise to help maintain a competitive edge
  
  Ted Stephens
  Director Rail Market Development
  Bentley Systems

            Mike Clarke
           CADD Development Manager
           Scott Wilson Railways
 
10:30 Coffee

INFRASTRUCTURE STREAM

Session chaired by:
Michael Robson, Chairman, European Rail Infrastructure Managers

TRANSFORMING INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

11:15 Transforming infrastructure investment in France – seeking private participation

• Meeting business expectations to ensure the success of private sector involvement
• Maintaining regional and secondary routes alongside high-speed lines
• Rolling ERTMS out across the network (developing European corridors)
• Innovating to make track maintenance more efficient
  
  Hubert du Mesnil
  Chief Executive Officer
   RFF

11:45 Panel session: financing infrastructure development – line upgrades and new projects

• What are the best investment strategies for rail infrastructure projects?
• How do we finance major change?
• Public versus private management and ownership
• How can we accommodate extra capacity?
• Accelerating progress in delivering TEN-T projects
• Financing the TEN-T network
• Making a case for infrastructure enhancements
• Fair and reasonable track access fees – who should pay for long term investment?
  
   Christopher Hurst, Director, European Investment Bank
   Julian Smith, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
   Hubert du Mesnil, Chief Executive Officer, RFF

12:30 Lunch sponsored by:

Welcome address:  Philip Martin, Senior Marketing Manager, Amadeus SAS

INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT UPDATES

13:45 High-speed project update – Lisbon-Madrid

•  Details of the business model behind the project
• Financing the value chain: how and why we chose specific financing options
• The role of PPP and private financing: transferring risk whilst attracting the market
• Key issues to be resolved
  
   Tiago Rodrigues
   Finance Director
   RAVE

14:15 Brenner Base Tunnel project update

• Brenner Base Tunnel project update – what is the position in February 2007?
• Recommendations for an optimal financing and legal structure
• Entering the final phase of the project – can we realistically meet the 2015 target?  
             
  Ezzio Facchin 
  CEO
  Galleria di Base del Brennero - Brenner Basistunnel BBT SE

IMPROVING PERFORMANCE, REDUCING COST

14:45 Case study: delivering improvements - cutting costs, increasing efficiency and stabilising financial performance

• Network Rail’s strategic planning process
• The rail infrastructure manager’s role in the utilisation and development of network capacity
  
   Paul Plummer
   Director, Planning & Regulation
   Network Rail 

15:15 Regulating the Swedish network – results and experiences of the network statement audit

• Ensuring that services, charges and capacity allocation comply with current regulatory requirements
• Are network statements making it easier for passenger and freight operators to gain access to infrastructure on equal terms and conditions?
• Results of the network statement audit – where have infrastructure managers been successful and where not?
• Learning lessons from the Swedish experience - ensuring success in future audits
  
   Ulf Lundin
   Director General
   Järnvägsstyrelsen - Swedish Rail Agency

15:45 Coffee

OPERATOR STREAM

INNOVATION IN EUROPE’S RAILWAYS

Session chaired by:
Tom Winsor, Partner and Global Head of Railways, White & Case
Rail Regulator & International Rail Regulator, Great Britain, 1999-2004

11:15 Seeking new ways of cooperation with the industry - a German approach

• Need to reduce costs of interlocking/signalling equipment
• Interlocking systems: on the verge of becoming state-of-the art software systems
• What can network operators do to boost standardization and modularization
• Means of optimizing LCC of signalling/interlocking systems
  
   Dr. Michael Leining
   Head of Demand Management and Planning – Telecommunication
   DB Netz AG
   

BUSINESS GROWTH AND COMPETITION

11:45 Panel session: cross-border competition – presenting an integrated rail service

• Presenting an integrated rail service in the face of competition and border issues
• Working with partners in other countries
• An operator’s approach to a pan-European integrated marketing campaign
• Fair and reasonable track access fees – who should pay for long term investment?
  
  Francisco José Cardoso dos Reis, President, Comboios de Portugal - Portuguese Trains
  Béatrice Pâques, the Commercial and Marketing Director, Thalys International
  Pietro Spirito, Head of the Commercial Department, Trenitalia S.p.A.

12:30 Lunch sponsored by:

Welcome address:  Paul Keser, Business Unit Director, Rail, Amadeus SAS
 
13:45 Changing IT requirements within the rail cargo industry

• Trends in the European rail sector
• Consequences for the rail cargo sector
• The rail cargo sector in the Netherlands

Business case Railion Netherlands
Ronald van Doorn
Business Unit Manager and Partner
Ab Ovo
           
              
14:15 Passenger projects in Portugal

• Overview of the company
• Case study of CP Lisboa Business Unit
• Responding better to customer expectations
  Francisco José Cardoso dos Reis
  President
  Comboios de Portugal - Portuguese Trains

14:45  Case study: focusing on international business – growing FS Cargo

• Focusing investment on international business
• Finding small profitable activities beyond our borders – developing business in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia
• Strategies to win bids and partnering approaches
• Understanding local issues to ensure success of your bid
• Concentrating on the acquisition of interoperable locomotives
   Pietro Spirito
   Head of the Commercial Department
   Trenitalia S.p.A.

15:15 ETCS applications in Spain:  from interoperable high speed lines to commuter lines

• ETCS: the initial challenge of interoperability
• ETCS: current status of deployment within Europe and outside Europe
• ETCS applications
• ETCS as a future worldwide standard
  
   Luis Fernandez Jimenez,
  Director International Business
  Thales Rail Signalling Solutions

15:45 Coffee

CLOSING PLENARY

16:15  Closing keynote: what will an integrated EU rail system look like in 5-10 years time?

• Can the real differences in the present system be overcome?
• How to achieve economic, commercial, institutional and legal interoperability?
• How should developments shape the behaviour of EU members, their railways and their customers?
• How far are we from a truly integrated system and how can we reach these goals?
  Tom Winsor
  Partner and Global Head of Railways
  White & Case
  Rail Regulator & International Rail Regulator, Great Britain, 1999-2004

16:45 Conclusions and discussion: is rail fit for purpose in the 21st century?
Speakers from the day

17:15 Close of conference