Press Release

Nearly 400 exhibitors from 12 countries have confirmed that they will take part in TRAKO 2009, the 8th International Railway Fair in Gdańsk. It is the largest Polish rail industry meeting and the second most prestigious European event of its kind, next to INNOTRANS. TRAKO is the perfect opportunity to promote rail transport in its broadest sense, to present the latest technologies and hold meetings within the industry. Public transport will be showcased next to railways, with trams and trolleybuses. The Fair will take place on October 14 to 16, 2009.

The largest contingent of international guests at this year’s TRAKO comes from Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France and the United Kingdom. Next to individual exhibition stands, the French, Czechs and Britons will present their products in national pavilions.

Trako 2009 includes a remarkably extensive programme of accompanying events: conferences, seminars and business meetings.The day before the exhibition begins, the SIRTS Polish Association for Interoperability and Development of Rail Transport invites you to take part in the 3rd International Seminar: The 1435/1520 Railway Systems. It is an immensely important rail event which has become a permanent feature of the calendar of meetings with a Euro-Asian dimension.

Also on October 13, the 2nd Technical Seminar dedicated to rail transport in cities will be held, originated in partnership with the IGKM Polish Chamber of Urban Transport. Its thematic sessions will address the issues of The Tram as a Modern Means of Public Transport and Preparing Tram Systems for Euro 2012.

This year’s TRAKO will be opened with a Debate on Railway Investments as a Way to Mitigate the Consequences of the Economic Crisis with guests including representatives of Poland’s Ministry of Infrastructure, the European Commission and international trade organisations.

An invitation to take part in the debate has been extended to: the European Commission’s DG TREN Director General Matthias Ruete, Poland’s Minister of Infrastructure Cezary Grabarczyk, Marshal of the Pomeranian Province Jan Kozłowski, EIB Director General for Lending Operations Thomas E. Hackett, UNIFE Director General Michael Clausecker, DB Chairman and CEO Rüdiger Grube, SNCF French National Railway President Guillaume Pepy, CER Executive Director Johannes Ludwig, FS Italian State Railways President Mauro Moretti, and PKP S.A. Polish State Railways President and CEO Andrzej Wach. The debate’s objective is both to create a space for comparative discussion about specific measures implemented by individual countries to combat the consequences of the crisis and to assess how these measures translate into the standing of European railways.

Trako is also an opportunity to present what’s new in the market. This year’s edition will feature an exhibition of rolling stock on the MTG siding, the Gdańsk-Oliwa station Discharge Depot and the exhibition tracks within the MTG venue. It has become a TRAKO tradition for the leading rail transport companies to present their best vehicles which ensure passenger comfort and safety. The world preview of the TRAMINO tram from Solaris Bus&Coach will be an unquestionable attraction of this year's Fair.

At the invitation of PKP SA, the forthcoming meetings of the CER Management Committee and General Assembly will take place on October 14 in Gdańsk as TRAKO accompanying events, which will make it possible for the heads of many European railways to take part in the Fair. The CER Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies is one of the largest European railway organisations, with 72 members to date. CER has its seat in Brussels, where it represents the interests of its member railways before European institutions in the context of EU legislation on the European rail industry. PKP S.A. has been a CER member since 1998.

On day 2, the Railway Market Forum and the Rynek Kolejowy (Railway Market) magazine welcome you to take part in the debate on The Future of Regional Rail in Poland – Organisation, Financing, Investments. The debate’s main issues include: PKP Przewozy Regionalne – Strategy for the Coming Years and Investments in Passenger Transport Upgrade.

Day 2 also gives you the ERTMS Debate organised by SIRTS and PKP PLK, which is fully open to the general public. The meeting will be dedicated to showing the new environment for implementing ERTMS in the light of changes in EU law. The debate’s agenda includes addresses from the European Railway Agency responsible for supervision over ERTMS and from the UNIFE Union of the European Railway Industries.

The best products and technologies presented at TRAKO will be assessed and receive awards in the Ernest Malinowski Competition and in the Czesław Jaworski Competition organised by SITK RP. The President of the Association of Polish Electrical Engineers (SEP) will also award his medal. The Railway Market Media Publishing Group will award its Rail Market Locomotive statuettes to companies which operate in the rail sector. TRAKO will also include the presentation of the Friend of the Railways Personality of the Year award nominees.

TRAKO enjoys the honorary patronage of: Poland’s Minister of Infrastructure Cezary Grabarczyk, PKP S.A. Polish State Railways President and CEO Andrzej Wach, Chairman of the Polish Academy of Sciences Transport Committee Prof. Janusz Dyduch, Chairman of the OSJD Organisation for the Cooperation of Railways Tadeusz Szozda, President of the SEP Association of Polish Electrical Engineers Prof. Jerzy Barglik, President of the SITK RP Polish Association of Engineers and Technicians of Transportation Antoni Szydło.

The TRAKO Fair is developed in close partnership with the Polish State Railways JSC (PKP S.A.). TRAKO is co-organised by Bombardier, Medcom, Siemens, Thales and Pojazdy Szynowe [Rail Vehicles] PESA Bydgoszcz SA. TRAKO Programme Council also includes the following industry organisations: the Commercial Chamber of Land Transport (IGTL), the Polish Association of Engineers and Technicians of Transportation (SITK RP), the Association of Polish Electrical Engineers (SEP), the Polish Chamber of Urban Transport (IGKM), the Polish International Freight Forwarders Association (PIFFA), Railway Business Forum (RBF) and SIRTS.

For the fourth time TRAKO will be accompanied by a charity auction for the Children's Ward of Rev. E. Dutkiewicz Hospice in Gdańsk.

TRAKO 2009 also means The World of Small Railway – a railway model exhibition organised in partnership with the Polish Association of Railway Modellers and Railway Lovers.

The event also enjoys the support of international organisations: the Organization for the Cooperation of Railways (OSJD), the Union of the European Railway Industries (UNIFE) and the Railway Industry Association (RIA).

more information 

Dorota Daszkowska-Kosewska, TRAKO Project Director

tel.: +48 58 554 92 12, 554 93 62, d.daszkowska@mtgsa.com.pl