09.00 Chairman’s Welcome And Opening Remarks

Eng. Bassam Mansour
Expert Trains and Railway Systems
National Transport Authority

09.30 Keynote Presentation: GCC Railway – Exploring Project Developments And Updates

• An understanding of rail projects across the Gulf region and opportunities for funding
• Understanding lessons learned in transport infrastructure
• Identifying and exploring the way forward for the rail industry

Ramiz Al Assar
Senior Transport Specialist
World Bank Group

10.00 Case Study: The Qatar-Bahrain Causeway

• Providing an unobstructed connection for freight and high speed passenger rail service between Bahrain and Qatar
• Considering the political, social and economic issues
• Exploring the integration of rail into the project

11.00 Understanding And Reforming Regulations

• An insight into recent testing and development of more economical design rules
• Driving sustainability through best practice in construction and specification
• A critical analysis of international standards and their applicability to the Gulf region

Eng. Bassam Mansour
Expert Trains and Railway Systems
National Transport Authority

11.30 Case Study: A Detailed Exploration Of The Hejaz Railway And The Proposed Projects In Jordan

• Achieving multi-modal connectivity through effective transport master planning
• Detailing opportunities in the Hejaz Railway project and potential projects in Jordan
• Overcoming design, building and maintenance challenges within the Hejaz Railway System
• Building an effective linkage with existing transport

Mahmoud Al-Khazaleh
Director General
Jordan Hejaz Railway

12.00 Speaker Q&A Panel Discussion

13.00 Designing Rail Projects In The Middle East

• Overcoming the climatic challenges facing the region
• Understanding the latest solutions to unique environmental demands in the industry
• Exploring lessons learnt from a series of rail planning and design case studies

Jean-François Blassel
Director
RFR

13.30 New Railway Link Through The Alps - Building The Longest Railway Tunnel Of The World

Luzi R. Gruber
Chief Executive Officer
Implenia Industrial Construction

14.00 Speaker Q&A Panel Discussion

15.00 Ensuring Rail Stations Are Passenger-Oriented

• Planning appropriate access through interchange and other modes to improve the flow of passenger traffic
• Overcoming the challenges of constructing over ground and underground stations
• Future proofing your station design to save costs in the long term

Roger Cruickshank
Senior Managing Consultant
Atkins

15.30 Station Masterplanning And Pedestrian Modelling

• Adopting dynamic station and transport interchange modelling
• Exploring best practice in train station design and construction
• Pioneering rail station design to cater for future development

16.00 Speaker Q&A Panel Discussion

16.50 End Of Conference Day One