From Aug. 30^th to Sept. 1^st, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Rail Transportation (IEEE ICIRT 2013) was held in Beijing. The conference is sponsored by IEEE Intelligent Transportation System Society (IEEE ITS) and technically co-sponsored by State Key Laboratory of Rail Traffic Control and Safety, Beijing Jiaotong University and University of Birmingham. It aims to provide an effective platform for academic exchanges, through which experts from around the world in the field of railway transportation can release the latest research results, exchange innovative ideas, and look into the future trends.

IEEE ICIRT 2013 is the first IEEE ITS-sponsored international academic conference in the field of railway transportation. The conference was hosted by Professor WANG Feiyue, the first Chair of IEEE ITS Society. Professor NING Bin, President of Beijing Jiaotong University gave welcome remarks at the opening ceremony, hoping that this conference can provide more opportunities for the experts to exchange and share the latest research findings of intelligent rail transportation. Professor John McDermid, academician of Royal Academy of Engineering attended the conference.

Over 100 experts and scholars from almost 10 countries including Canada, Japan, Germany and Netherlands attended the conference. Prof. Victor C.M. Leung from University of British Columbia, Prof. Satoru Sone from West Japan Railway Company, Prof. Ingo A. Hansen from Delft University of Technology, Prof. Ali Hessami, Chair of IEEE SMC Society, Dr. Markus Montigel, CEO of systransis Ltd, Rotkreuz, Switzerland and Dr. Simon Collart Dutilleul, the Research Director of IFSTTAR/ESTAS were invited to give keynote speeches on the latest topics related to new applications of railway transportation, operation safety of high-speed rail, sustainable railway timetabling, operating rules of high-speed lines, etc. A Youth Researchers Panel Session that introduces train control approaches to reduce carbon emission and save energy was also held. 56 authors of the selected papers introduced their researches in the 11 sessions which focused on specific themes.

2013 Railway Operation Safety Forum was held on Aug. 29th as the pre-conference of 2013 IEEE ICIRT. Academician SUN Yongfu, Chairman of China Railway Society, and Prof. NING Bin delivered speeches respectively. Mr. SONG Minhua, Deputy Secretary General of China Association of Metros, Ms. TAN Yan, Deputy Director of Electrical Service Department, China Railways Corporation, and Mr. DING Shukui, Manager of Beijing Subway Construction Corporation attended the conference. Professor Rod Muttram, academician of Royal Academy of Engineering, Professor John McDermid, academician of Royal Academy of Engineering and Professor Ali Hessami, Chairman of IEEE SMC and other experts in the field of rail transit were invited to present and share experiences on assessment framework, evidence, standard, supervision and assurance issues of modern railway risk management, equipment maintenance, safety indicator system, safety cost-effectiveness analysis and human factors.