The German capital, Berlin, has seen the launch of the 12th edition of International Trade Fair for Transport Technology (InnoTrans 2018). Running from 18–21 September, the event will see participation of 3,000 entities from 61 countries, with about 200 innovations exhibited in five key segments: Rail Technology, Rail Infrastructure, Public Transport, Interiors and Tunnel Construction.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has exhibited key projects & initiatives including the Route 2020, Enterprise Command & Control Center (EC3), Dubai International Project Management Forum (DIPMF), Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Project Management, Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport (Oct 2019), 3D Printing, and the Hyperloop.
HE Mattar Al Tayer, director general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, headed RTA’s delegation at the opening ceremony of the exhibition and conference held under the patronage of HE Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of the German Transport and Digital Infrastructure. Attendees included HE Violeta Bulc, EU Transport Commissioner; and HE Ali Al Ahmed, UAE Ambassador to Germany, in addition to several global transport officials. RTA’s delegation also included Board Member Mohammed Obaid Al Mulla, CEO of Rail Agency Abdul Mohsen Ibrahim Younes and several officials from rail agency and other departments.
Al Tayer and the delegation attended the opening session of the conference in the presence of heads of operators and manufacturers of rail systems across the world. Dr Christian Göke, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH, delivered the welcome note. HE Andreas Scheuer delivered a speech focusing on multi mobility and the importance of introducing uniform mobility legislation.
HE Violeta Bulc’s speech highlighted digitisation in mobility, green and sustainable transport, and investment in innovative solutions for the ‘first and last mile’. She stressed that the future of mobility being clean, silent, efficient and above all customer sufficient.
A discussion panel about mobility, innovation, and sustainable transport focused on key solutions and innovations of multi mobility. Topics discussed included digitisation of rail infrastructure and innovation in increased rail capacity without increasing areas for infrastructure construction. The event witnessed announcements of top rail projects currently underway all over the globe.
Tour
Al Tayer toured the exhibition that highlighted top solutions and innovations of multi mobility, digitisation of rail infrastructure and capacity and customers’ services. RTA’s delegation was acquainted with the latest developments of rail management and operation, and the use of 3D printing in rail and spare parts manufacturing.
Al Tayer inspected RTA’s stand, which focuses on key public transport projects and initiatives. The array of exhibits include Route 2020 of the Dubai Metro Red Line extension by 15km to the Expo 2020 site, and the ‘Enterprise Command And Control Centre’ (EC3 ) one of the biggest and most sophisticated transport control centres in the world. The centre uses cutting-edge technologies in controlling and integrating multi-mode transit means, coordinates with other control centres in the emirate and meets the needs of hosting Expo 2020.
RTA’s stand also promotes the Dubai International Project Management Forum (8-11 Dec 2018) under the theme ‘Building Nations,’ Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Project Management and Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport (Oct 2019) which carries prize money of $5mn. RTA’s initiatives on display also include 3D printing and the Hyperloop technologies.
Rail Leaders’ Summit
Al Tayer and the delegation attended the Rail Leaders’ Summit (The future of cities is rail) in the presence of leaders of top eight operators of rail systems worldwide. The summit discussed the trends of global cities in the smart integration of rail in public transport.
Meetings
On the sidelines of the conference, Al Tayer held a series of meetings with top leaders including Chris Grayling, British Secretary of State for Transport. The meeting discussed the cooperation between Serco (Dubai Metro operator) and RTA, and metro future expansion plans including the Green Line.
Al Tayer also met Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Transport, and discussed Dubai’s integrated mobility platform, smart apps for serving customers, 3D printing, and RTA’s future rail projects. Al Tayer and the delegation reviewed the latest driverless trains manufactured by Siemens.
Al Tayer also held a meeting with HE Millard Crawford, deputy CEO of Land Transport Systems, Thales. The meeting reviewed the latest products and services launched by the company such as fibre-optic solutions, mainline traffic management system, new digital platform apps (Eclipse and Naia), and the new Gen of Seltrac G7.
Keeping Pace
Al Tayer stated that RTA’s participation in InnoTrans 2018 was part of its endeavours to keep pace with the fast changes of the rail industry and familiarise with the latest international best practices of public transport construction, operation and maintenance.
“We are always keen on tracking the latest trends of metro safety & security procedures and quality passenger services. The exhibition is a good opportunity to meet with manufacturers of rail and transport systems, and gain exposure to international experience in the field of rail and public transport,” said Al Tayer.
“The conference has become an iconic international rail event offering highlights of rail infrastructure and carriage interiors. As RTA serves a broad spectrum of the community, it is keen on delivering world-class services in line with the development upswing witnessed by Dubai across the board,” concluded Al Tayer.