States also presented challenges for APTA, which is based in Washington, D.C. Past Highspeed programs have been held in Beijing, Amsterdam, Milan, Madrid, Berlin, Brussels, and Lille, France; and U.S. organizers found that pulling together multiple international organizations forced them to adjust their schedules. “The biggest challenge, honestly, was the time difference,” Gallagher said. “UIC is six hours ahead of us, so oftentimes we were doing our conference calls with them at the crack of dawn for us, or very late in the day for them. But so much happens over email, and a core group of people did some traveling back and forth to do some planning.” Time difference aside, both APTA and UIC, along with
Netherlands-based conference-organizing group Europoint, worked well together to ensure a successful event. While it’s standard for one planning company to manage all the details, even for a large-scale event, Horch noted, the three organi- zations did a good job of handling site inspections, including at the main Amtrak hub at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Sta- tion, where the event’s opening reception was held. “Most of the folks who run the event are from Europe,” Horch said. “But when APTA got involved, it looked like a great partner- ship between the two organizations. … It’s all in the planning, so of course that’s where the details are. The event went extremely smooth.”
TRAIN-ING DAYS With event organizers, presenters, attendees, and exhibitors drawn from 37 different countries, Highspeed 2012’s general sessions featured a range of international speakers, including Yoshio Ishida, chairman of UIC and corporate auditor of East Japan Railway Company; Michael P. Melaniphy, president and CEO of APTA; and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. High-level topics included a general session on the current state of high-speed rail around the world, while breakout sessions zeroed in on topics such as noise and vibrations, signaling and traffic management, economy and finance, and customer satisfaction. Roundtable discussions and debates between high-speed-rail leaders rounded out Highspeed 2012’s education program — which involved a total of 190 speakers. “With each World Congress, UIC’s objective is to offer
the very unique opportunity to share latest developments, successful strategies, and innovative technologies that have made high-speed rail an economic, environmental, and criti- cal success,” Gallagher said. “[And] APTA’s objective in bid- ding to host the event was to bring that collective wealth of knowledge to an audience of transportation authorities that have the mandate and federal funding to develop high- and higher-speed rail systems throughout the U.S.” The sheer number of high-speed-rail experts in atten-
dance — including 32 directors and CEOs from rail com- panies worldwide — helped ensure top-notch education. “I
100 PCMA CONVENE DECEMBER 2012
Up to Speed ‘It’s extraordinary,’ said APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy, ‘to have the leaders of every high-speed- rail operation in the world here to help us raise our collective knowledge at a pivotal point in this country’s time.’