MNA � The 19th summit of the International Union of Railways (UIC) in the Middle-East region has been held in Tehran from May 2, 2017 to present and discuss cooperation in the rail transport sector in the member countries.


In this summit, held at The Railways of Iran headquarters for two days, the 13 members of the regional assembly of UIC have come together to discuss avenues of railways and technical cooperation and achievements in order to establish an integrated regional rail network.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC�s Director General, emphasized on the key programs of the Union for re-activating the Silk Road and a transport corridor connecting middle-eastern countries to Europe. These programs and measures include developing and completing rail transport systems, exchanging technical information between member countries and implementing standards in the rail transport sector.

Loubinoux pointed to the importance of digital technologies and high-speed trains in the rail transport sectors of the member countries, adding that further summits are scheduled in 2017 and 2018 to explore high-speed trains� technical requirements.

According to the President of Railways of Iran, Saeed Mohammadzadeh, re-establishing the Silk Road Corridor is one of the key points that UIC has been focusing on; due to the fact that Iran is located in the transit crossroads (East-West and North-South), making this one of the spotlights of the REMA summits.

A future summit is going to be held on July 11, 2017 in Istanbul and another in 2018 in Ankara in order to discuss solutions for integrating high-speed trains into railway systems in the region.