Page content

Press Release

January 10, 2022

InnoTrans Podcast: “Without demand, no market. Without a market, no industry“

Pedro Fortea, director general of the Spanish railway association MAFEX, talks about public transport in mega cities, the impact of Covid, how to attract talented young people, and the mecca for railway professionals. The episode is available online from 11 January 2022.

The population is growing, more and more people live in cities and the climate crisis is worsening – the rail industry must react to these changes and find solutions. “What would people in conurbations such as Madrid or Shanghai do without public transport, especially without railways? The concentration of so many people in cities is a huge challenge and opportunity for rail transport“, says Pedro Fortea, director general of the Spanish railway association MAFEX.

In addition to global trends, the rail industry must also confront changing market conditions, technological developments and regulatory demands. On top of that there is the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a paradoxical situation: “On the one hand mass transit systems are the backbone of tomorrow’s transport, on the other there has been a sharp decline in passenger numbers since the pandemic began. We need to get people back onto public transport, for without demand there is no market, and without a market there will be no industry“, says Pedro Fortea in the podcast.

It is also important for the industry to secure newcomers. To do that it is important to make young people aware of how important public transport is for society, he adds.

According to Pedro Fortea, InnoTrans in Berlin is the mecca for railway professionals. “Every railway professional wants to visit InnoTrans at least once in a lifetime. I feel privileged to have been able to be there since 2002”, he says, and is looking forward to the industry’s next international get-together in 2022.

With the International Press Circle, InnoTrans is holding an exclusive opening media event for press representatives from Germany and abroad, which will take place on the eve of the opening of the trade fair. “At a 40-minute networking brunch of the International Press Circle, journalists for the rail and mobility sector can exchange views with directors from international railway associations, who will be presenting their countries’ rail industry services at InnoTrans“, says InnoTrans director Kerstin Schulz. Taking place over a maximum of three hours, the Press Circle is a concentrated event focusing on global rail transport expertise, regional and global mobility issues, and will feature an exclusive preview tour of new products on the world’s only rail track and outdoor display area.

You can find all the episodes of the InnoTrans Podcast here. Additional information on these episodes is available on our social media channels (LinkedIn, and on Twitter under @InnoTrans) as well as in our InnoTrans blog.

The next episode of the InnoTrans Podcast will be aired on 08 February 2022.



About InnoTrans

InnoTrans is the world’s leading trade fair for transport technology and takes place every two years in Berlin. At the last event 3,062 exhibitors from 61 countries presented the global rail industry’s innovations to 153,421 trade visitors who came from 149 countries. The five segments at InnoTrans are Railway Technology, Railway Infrastructure, Public Transport, Interiors and Tunnel Construction. InnoTrans is organised by Messe Berlin. The thirteenth edition of InnoTrans will take place on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds from 20 to 23 September 2022. More details are available online at www.innotrans.com.