Pre-conference Workshops - AsiaRail 2009, 16th International Congress, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand

MONDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2009
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP

Workshops will run from 9.00 - 12.30 in the morning, and 13.30 - 17.00 in the afternoon. Choose A or B in the morning, and C or D in the afternoon. Lunch will be provided for all workshop participants and speakers.

Morning Workshop A
Adopting a Unified Approach to Railway Communications

Morning Workshop B
Passenger Pricing Strategies - A Customer-Centric Approach to Revenue Generation

Afteroon Workshop D
Cost Reduction Initiatives for Rail Operators

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Morning Workshop A
09:00 - 12:30	Adopting a Unified Approach to Railway Communications Communication systems are mission-critical for operators. The ability to reliably relay voice, data and video between control centres, trains, stations, passengers and staff means increased operational efficiency, optimised maintenance and better service for passengers. Improved fault and asset management, as well as remote monitoring translate into significant cost reductions, while real-time communication with ground and emergency personnel mean better safety and security. Accomplishing this unified approach means upgrading your communications backbone network (CBN) from SDH to the internet protocol (IP) and making that network intelligent and resilient with multi-protocol label switching (MPLS). IP MPLS enables you to not only improve operations and reduce your costs but also deliver the services today’s passengers expect. This workshop will teach you how to cost-effectively migrate your CBN to the next generation of information and communications technology.
	Understand what IP MPLS is and how it can deliver a true unified approach to railway communications Learn how IP MPLS can help you increase your operational effectiveness and passenger satisfaction and safety Hear how rail operators have already made the migration successfully Understand how you can plan and implement the move to IP MPLS
	If you are planning or considering an upgrade to your CBN, this workshop will provide you with the knowledge and tools necessary to successfully move your mission critical network into the next generation of communications technology. *About your workshop leader: Olivier Andre, Director, Mainline Rail Market, Alcatel-Lucent* Olivier is responsible for leading and developing Alcatel-Lucent’s solutions for rail customers worldwide. He brings a wide range of knowledge within the rail sector having 15 years experience in the industry. Born in Belgium, Olivier studied Electro-Mechanical engineering at the Université de Liege. He joined Alcatel-Lucent’s Vertical Markets organization in 2008. His railway experience is diverse and ranges from rolling stock to most of the infrastructure-based mission-critical systems. Olivier spent the early part of his career working for Alstom Transport in Belgium, then in the UK as Project Manager for equipment for high speed rail projects, such as the Korean high speed train and the Eurostar. He then worked as Projects Director and Engineering Director delivering traction equipment for metro projects worldwide, from Brazil to Moscow, Singapore and Shanghai. Olivier then gained experience as International Business development Manager and Consultant for a leading UK-based transport consultancy. Prior to joining Alcatel-Lucent, Olivier was managing the UK business of Thales Transportation Systems, a business that originated from British Rail Telecoms and was delivering mission-critical systems and fare collection solutions to the UK market. Olivier is married, has two children and lives in the UK.

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Morning Workshop B
09:00 - 12:30	Passenger Pricing Strategies - A Customer-Centric Approach to Revenue Generation As a public utility, rail services are an essential lifeline for a vast majority of the population. The setting of fares is therefore necessarily political and fares need to be affordable while still achieving the revenue goals of government and the rail operator. Fare setting should therefore follow four main principles:
	1. Achieve long-term revenue maximisation 2. Be competitive to parallel services 3. Be publicly acceptable and affordable 4. Be commercial viable
	At this immensely practical workshop, you will learn latest pricing techniques for public transport, the impact of subsidies and social welfare on railway pricing, how to gain political acceptance and annual fare adjustment mechanisms.
	Reviewing government policies on subsidies and limits on fare pricing Aligning the operating plans of railways with customer expectations and demands - What percentage should passenger fares be of total revenue? Serving multiple customer segments and developing unique value propositions Getting to grips with the top down approach to fare setting Using Discrete Modelling Choice techniques to set fares Econometric model - willingness to pay vs. value of time saved Moving from monitoring ‘Average Fares’ to ‘Average Revenue Per User’ How to present fare information to the public and convince them of its fairness Using customer satisfaction and expectations as a means to guide future investments
About your workshop leader: Alok Jain, President, TransConsult, Hong Kong As President of Trans-Consult, Alok undertakes consulting work in the areas of Public Transport Planning, Marketing, Pricing, Revenue Management and Fare collection technologies. Alok has over 20 years of industry experience. Until March 2008, he worked for MTR Corporation (Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation, prior to its merger with MTRC) Hong Kong for more than 10 years in areas of Project Planning and Management, Finance and Marketing. In his last position as General Manager-Marketing, he was accountable for developing strategies for pricing, ticketing, service planning, promotion and passenger communications. During his tenure, he also served as a Director in Octopus Group, which manages one of the most successful smart card payment platforms in the world and was a member of the Finance & Commerce Sub-committee (Metro Division) of the UITP.


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Afternoon Workshop D
13:30 - 17:30	Cost Reduction Initiatives for Rail Operators This workshop will provide an overview of initiatives and current best practices to increase efficiency and reduce Opex for rail operators whilst promoting green branding ideals. It will help operators take a holistic approach, using various methods at their disposal.
	LED lighting & signalling replacement to reduce electricity and maintenance costs Improved train movement profiles and scheduling to reduce energy costs Providing quick ROI through converged integrated systems for improved operations and communications efficiencies Restructuring the supply chain combined with Lean practices for lower spares costs and logistics efficiencies The workshop will end with an interactive session where operators can input information to create a cost-benefit analysis based on their own railways.
About your workshop leader: Paul Evans, Managing Director, InfraAsia InfraAsiaTM provides a full range of project management, engineering and technical services to the rail industry, covering all core railway systems including communications, and control technologies. From its operational base in Bangkok, InfraAsia’s network of local and expatriate professional and technical resources is well placed to fulfill client requirements in Asia, with a particular emphasis on the South East Asian region. Paul has over 25 years experience in the Railway & Telecommunications systems industry including 14 years working in the Asian region. He commenced his career as an apprentice Signalling and Telecommunications engineer for British Rail before moving to the Telecom industry working for notable companies such as Philips, Bosch Telecom and Marconi. He subsequently became involved in various U.K. Rail Communications projects including the London Underground Central Line upgrade and Jubilee Line Extension. He relocated to Asia in 1997 working on major “Green Field” projects including Communications, Control & Security systems for the Hong Kong Airport Express Line, Inchon Airport in South Korea, Bangkok Blue Line, planning for the SRT Red Line project and Bangkok Skytrain system upgrades & extensions. He has lived in Bangkok since 2000 forming InfraAsia in 2004. While serving as the companies Managing Director Paul has maintained an active involvement in Railway Systems technologies, their application and resultant operations and maintenance requirements. This has included advising Government Authorities and Operators in Thailand and elsewhere in Asia on industry best practice and providing engineering & advisory services covering the complete project life cycle. Recent areas of interest include application of systems technologies to improve cost & operational efficiencies providing tangible benefits whilst also addressing current environmental “Green Branding” concerns.