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Liberalisation process and a European railway construction are subject to analysis in/at the Guggenheim

04/10/2008

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao played host to "New Sceneries for European railway transport". The technology conference aimed to examine new markets and opportunities concerning freight and passenger transport following the liberalisation process of the railway sector emerging in the European continent.

The Basque councillor for Transport and Public Works, Nuria López de Guereñu was responsible for opening speech within the commemorative activities of the 25th anniversary of the Basque Railway Company, EuskoTren. During her speech she defended necessary challenges such as "the creation of a European high-speed line and the process of liberalisation, since they will generate opportunities for freight and passenger transport".

In this sense, she stated that it would be interesting to recover the prominent role of the train in order to "travel in metropolitan areas, cover mid and long distances and carry all sorts of freight all over the length and the breadth of the continent".

Next, the director of consultancy firm Leber Planificación e Ingeniería, Mikel Murga raised the question of mobility and transport through videoconference as he could not attended the conference in Bilbao. He focused his speech on transport system of cities such as Boston, London and New York to conclude by saying "it is necessary to reduce the existing equilibrium between cars and public transport".

Stefan Gerber, the group leader of Pöyry Infra AG Planning in Latin America explained the transport system of Zurich, adding that "it is necessary to convince clients of the need to demolish physical and mental barriers".

After a short break, the Director-General of COMSA Rail Transport, Miquel Llevat dealt with the matter of railway transport liberalisation and new freight operators. He finished off by stating, "train passengers are the real driving forces of liberalisation".

The high-speed director of the International Union of Railways (UIC), Iñaki Barrón, was the last to participate. He analysed the commercial operation of high-speed trains providing examples of Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Spain and cleared up that "there is not a unique conception of high-speed".

The conference concluded with a discussion coordinated by the Director General of EuskoTren, Iñigo Palomino, where the attendees had the chance of asking questions to professionals.

Click here to see the photographs of the event.