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Last week, the World Congress on Railway Research's organizing committee met in London to begin preparing an agenda for the next international summit to be held June 4-8, 2006, in Montreal.

Committee members — comprising representatives from the Association of American Railroads, Railway Technical Research Institute of Japan, International Union of Railways, and research heads from railroads in Germany, Britain, France and Italy — want the 2006 summit to emphasize North American railroading.

"The conference will bring together labor leaders, key suppliers, government representatives, customers and leading-edge researchers in freight and passenger-rail transport," said Mike Lowenger, committee co-chair, and vice president of operations and regulatory affairs for the Railway Association of Canada, in a prepared statement.

Committee members also unanimously voted in favor of holding a 2008 summit in Seoul, South Korea. The National Railways of the Republic of Korea, Korean National Railway Authority and Korean Railway Research Institute will organize the event in collaboration with the Japanese Railway Technical Research Institute and China Academy of Railway Sciences.

"[The conference] will provide participants a unique opportunity to meet all the stakeholders involved in railway research and technology from across Asia and around the world," said Roy Allen, meeting chair, and representative for AAR and the Transportation Technology Center Inc.

Since conducting its first summit in Paris in 1994, the World Congress on Railway Research has tried to promote international and interdisciplinary exchanges between all railroad researchers. The congress previously held conferences in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Florence, Italy; Cologne, Germany; Tokyo; and — most recently — Edinburgh, Scotland, last year.