U.S. high-speed association to host conference in October

As September draws to a close, the U.S. High Speed Rail Association (US HSR) is gearing up for its first conference: High Speed Rail 2009.

To be held Oct. 22-23 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., the conference will bring together advisors, policy makers and suppliers involved in high-speed rail to help advance the industry and build political support, according to US HSR.

Speakers will include Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), a high-speed rail supporter and member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, director general of the International Union of Railways (UIC) in Paris; Ignacio Barron, director of UIC's High Speed Rail Department; Martin Bay, chief executive officer of Germany's DB International, which develops, plans, constructs and operates the country's rail system; Jan Moorlag, international manager and project director for ARCADIS, which is supervising construction of the WuGuang high-speed rail project in China; and Robert Furniss, vice president of business development for Bombardier Transportation.

US HSR is a non-profit organization focusing on the advancement of a national high-speed rail network. The vision includes a national HSR express system comprising state-of-the-art dedicated track, advanced control systems, multi-modal stations and 220 mph trains. US HSR promotes connecting cities and states into an integrated system, laid out in phases with an "aggressive" schedule for full system build-out, the association says.