The Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI) hosted two international collaborative research seminars in 2002. Those were the joint research seminar with China and Korea in October and the research seminar with France in December. A number of distinguished researchers got together in Tokyo from each railway research organization and had lively discussions about railway technologies.
    The Second China-Japan-Korea Railway Research Seminar was held at RTRI's headquarters in Kokubunji, Tokyo, on October 9 to 11. Seven participants from the China Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS) headed by Mr. Zhongwen Wang, Vice President of CARS, and 19 participants from the Korea Railway Research Institute (KRRI) headed by Dr. Dahl-Ho Song, President of KRRI, joined this three-day seminar together with RTRI's researchers.
    The first day was spent for a plenary meeting and individual meetings between each two organizations, and the participants from CARS and KRRI were guided to a short tour for looking around the main test facilities in RTRI during the meetings. The three organizations discussed how to proceed the next phase of each collaborative research to benefit each other. The whole second day was spent for the technical presentations chaired by Mr. Masao Uchida, General Manager of R&D Promotion Division of RTRI. Following the opening addresses made by Mr. Hiroumi Soejima, President of RTRI, Mr. Wang of CARS and Dr. Song of KRRI, three plenary speeches and 12 technical presentations were made by researchers from the three organizations. The last day was spent for a technical visit to JR East's Hokuriku Shinkansen Line and Control Center for Shinkansen, and Tokyo Metropolitan Subway's Shinkiba Car Depot.
    RTRI and CARS started their collaborative research activities in 1992 under the fundamental agreement signed in 1988. On the other hand, joint research projects between RTRI and KRRI were started in 2000 under the fundamental agreement signed in 1999. CARS and KRRI have also implemented joint research. In 2000, these three organizations agreed to hold a joint seminar every year to exchange the results of their collaborative research. The first joint seminar was hosted by KRRI in May 2001. The next seminar will be hosted by CARS in Beijing, China in September 2003.
    The RTRI-SNCF Railway Research Seminar was also held at RTRI on December 11 to 12. Nine participants from the French National Railways (SNCF) headed by Mr. Louis-Marie Cleon, Deputy Director of Research and Technology Department and SNCF Scientific Advisor, joined this seminar.
    A plenary meeting between the two organizations, a short tour of RTRI's test facilities and individual project meetings of related researchers of the two organizations were held on the first day. The second day was spent for the technical presentations chaired by Mr. Yuji Nishie, Manager of International Affairs, RTRI. Following the welcome address made by Mr. Soejima of RTRI, Mr. Cleon of SNCF and Mr. Uchida of RTRI made plenary speeches. Three special technical presentations were made by RTRI's researchers and 21 technical presentations related to the collaborative research were made by researchers from the two organizations.
    RTRI and SNCF started their collaborative research in 1995. This SNCF-RTRI seminar was held to exchange the final reports of their second-phase research projects including track maintenance, ride comfort and side wind. The next research plans were discussed at this meeting, and the results of discussions were written in a resolution and signed by Mr. Cleon and Mr. Uchida. RTRI and SNCF agreed to hold such a meeting/seminar annually, and the next seminar will be hosted by SNCF in late 2003.

China-Japan-Korea Railway Research Seminar in 2002

RTRI-TRI-SNCF Railway Research Seminar 2002