On 25 October 2013, the first International Forum of the Rail Tariff Regulators in Europe, America and Asia (IFRTR) organised a dedicated conference in Moscow on “Effective Tariff Regulation and the Encouragement of Investments in Rail Infrastructure”.

At the conference discussions were held on:

• The key principles of effective regulation and encouragement of investments in rail infrastructure as well as practices for their implementation
• The experience of flexible railway tariff regulation, including the methods of state regulation and practices of long term tariff
• The issues of transport law and legislation
• The experience of tariff regulation under the conditions of the integration processes
• Uniformity and divergence of tariff setting methods in the EU and other countries
• The issues of interoperability and the role of international organisations in the development of communications between Asia and Europe
• Regulatory experience in systems with different levels of government involvement

Mr Valdimir Yakunin, Chairman of UIC and President of Russian Railways JSC, was a keynote speaker. He stressed that Russian Railways supports the initiative of holding this conference and the application of this innovative approach in its organisation.

Mr Marc Guigon presented how the telematics applications for passengers can make rail competitive, and how UIC is engaged in the process to deliver the services to the railway community.
He underlined that UIC can provide the railway community with its tools for timetables (MERITS) and tariffs (PRIFIS).