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Rising visitor numbers continue to underline the success of Italy’s only regular exhibitions for the railway and tunnelling industries. A total of 7,300 visitors from 48 countries attended the highly successful EXPO Ferroviaria 2010 and INTERtunnel 2010 exhibitions, which took place at Turin’s Lingotto Fiere, Italy, from 8 to 10 June. This represented an increase in visitor numbers of 12 per cent compared to attendance at the previous edition of these co-located events in 2008.

The broad appeal of EXPO Ferroviaria to professionals from all parts of the rail industry is matched by the high quality of visitors to the show. They included senior representatives of Italy’s national rail infrastructure company RFI and rail operator Trenitalia. Top officials from regional transport authorities also visited the exhibition, along with managers from Ferrovie Nord Milano, new high-speed operator NTV and the ArenaWays passenger rail company, among many others. The urban rail sector was well covered too, drawing visitors from Metropolitana di Roma, Metropolitana Milanese and the latter city’s ATM company. Representing foreign train operating companies were managers from ÖBB in Austria, SNCF of France, DB Schenker in Germany and SBB from Switzerland.

INTERtunnel attracted equally high-ranking visitors, with Italian national highways agency ANAS and toll roads concessionaire Autostrade per l’Italia attending, together with officials from Italy’s regional transport authorities. Representatives of LTF Lyon Turin Ferroviare also visited the show, as well as engineers and buyers from leading construction companies such as CIPA, Impregilo, Salini and Tecnimont.

The 450 firms taking part in the combined exhibitions – 350 at EXPO Ferroviaria and 100 at INTERtunnel – included leading international companies from both sectors as well as many specialised suppliers of products and services the essential to the two industries.

High-level figures from Italy’s transport industry and its political establishment took part in the formal opening of the event. They included Mr Mauro Moretti, CEO of the national railway company, FS Holding SpA, Mr Mario Virano, Government Commissioner for the Turin-Lyon project, Ms Barbara Bonino, Transport Commissioner for Regione Piemonte, and Mr Gianpiero Fantini, Managing Director of Metroferro, the metro and rail transport division of GTT, the Turin Transport Group – one of the shows’ sponsors.

Among additional highlights of the combined event were a two-day conference organised by the Italian College of Railway Engineers (CIFI), a conference and workshop hosted by the Italian Tunnelling Society (Società Italiana Gallerie - SIG). There was also a seminar staged jointly by the Italian Association for Special Foundations (AIF) and the Italian Association for Geognostic Research (ANISIG). In addition, a programme of free technical presentations at which exhibitors detailed their latest innovations took place in the main halls.

A successful programme of technical visits to local transport facilities was also arranged. Alstom’s Savigliano train building plant and, in collaboration with GTT, Turin’s automated metro system were among installations which welcomed participants in the two exhibitions.

Commenting on the success of these latest EXPO Ferroviaria and INTERtunnel shows, Chairman of organisers Mack Brooks Exhibitions Stephen Brooks said: “We greatly appreciate the very strong support shown for these two events by exhibitors and visitors. This underlines the important role they play in bringing people together and in providing an opportunity for them to discuss the latest product innovations and technologies.”

Dates for the next shows in this series in Turin – the fifth EXPO Ferroviaria and the fourth INTERtunnel in the city – have now been fixed for 27 to 29 March 2012.

EXPO Ferroviaria 2010 and INTERtunnel 2010 were organised by Mack Brooks Exhibitions. A world leader in the management of trade events for the rail industry, the company stages successful regular shows including SIFER in Lille, France, Railtex and Infrarail, both in the UK, and Exporail in Moscow, Russia. It also organises an annual INTERtunnel exhibition in Moscow for the tunnel industry in Russia.

INTERtunnel 2010 was the third of these international events held in Italy for the tunnel industry. It followed a long series of successful INTERtunnel exhibitions in Basel, Switzerland.