Organised by IRSE Malaysia Section and hosted by Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd, this will be the first time the conference is held in Kuching and, more significantly, the first time that the event has been held outside of the federal capital.

The two-day conference, which will be held at the Riverside Majestic Hotel, will be officially launched by Minister for Transport Sarawak Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin.

Conference delegates will have the opportunity to hear presentations from 10 speakers, who have been invited to present various topics not only on railway signal engineering, but also on general rail and public transport issues.

The speakers include IRSE president Andy Knight from the United Kingdom, who will give a talk entitled ‘Shaping the Future’; IRSE Singapore chairman Robert Cooke, who will give a talk on ‘Metro Signalling Safety – From Generic Product to a Safety Operating System’; and permanent secretary to the Ministry of Transport Sarawak Datuk Alice Jawan Empaling, who will talk on ‘Transforming Public Transport for Sarawak’.

The representative from IRSE Indonesia, Mulyadi Sinung, is expected to present a paper entitled ‘Transportation Masterplan in Ibu Kota Nusantara’.

The presentation topics range from the latest developments in rail and public transport industry to transportation masterplans for cities and the role of railway system in achieving future net-zero emissions.

IRSE Malaysia Section and Sarawak Metro hope that the conference will be a platform to promote greater exchange of knowledge especially in creating awareness on safety and higher standards of practice in the rail and public transport sectors.

They also hope the conference can be an avenue to promote greater interest and awareness among the younger generation on career opportunities in the railway industry, particularly in signal engineering and public transport sector.