SUPPLIERS and international railway organisations will be participating in the 4th international rail#tec trade fair and congress, which takes place at Westfalenhallen in Dortmund from November 10-12. The event is sponsored by the Land of Nordrhein-Westfalen, whose Transport Minister Dr Axel Horstmann believes it will be a key forum for debating the latest European transport policy issues.
The first day has been designated Policy Day, with the theme of ’Sustainable Mobility in Europe’. Horstmann will host a discussion with Federal Transport Minister Dr Manfred Stolpe, Dutch Transport Minister Karla Peijs, and her Polish counterpart Marek Pol. Other participants will include UITP President Dr Wolfgang Meyer, DB Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn, Netherlands Railways Chief Executive Aad Veenman and PKP Director-General Maciej Meclewski.
The second day is designated Mobility Day, and the third Science & Research Day. Amongst the participants at the event will be the Community of European Railways, UITP, German Railway Industry Association, and the Association of German Transport Undertakings (VDV). Regional operators will be represented, including Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr and the transport department of the city of Dortmund. Research organisations demonstrating their latest projects include Aachen and Dresden technical universities and the locally-based Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow & Logistics.
Around 300 exhibitors have registered for the trade fair, which will occupy two halls adjacent to the congress venue. This is a 13% increase on the 265 exhibitors at rail#tec 2001, which attracted over 10000 visitors.
