Launch of the Eurasia-MENA Urban Rail Platform (EMURP): a unified approach to urban rail development

EMURP is designed to become the central exchange platform for urban rail actors across MENA and Eurasia. As mobility systems in both regions expand and evolve, the platform offers a framework to align strategies, tackle operational challenges, and develop coordinated responses.

Meeting twice a year, EMURP will be jointly led by Metro Istanbul for the Eurasia region, as chaired by Deputy General Manager at Metro Istanbul, Dr. Yıldıray Yedikardeş.

EMURP’s work will centre on four key themes:

• Driverless operations and automation: Advancing operations from Grade of Automation 2 (GoA2) through GoA3 and beyond.
• Predictive maintenance and asset management: Improving system performance through smarter upkeep and data-led strategies.
• Cybersecurity, AI integration, and digitalisation: Addressing the opportunities and risks of a digital-first rail environment.
• Service quality and operational efficiency: Enhancing passenger experience through streamlined operations.

In addition, Working Groups will be formed based on participant interest to allow deeper dives into specific technical areas or strategic topics.

To ensure consistency and coordination across UITP’s global activities, EMURP will align closely with the association’s existing Metro, Light Rail, and Suburban Rail Committees, ensuring that insights and expertise flow both regionally and globally.

The platform was officially launched on 16 April 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the first EMURP meeting, hosted by Transport General Authority, KSA. Participants began the day with a technical visit to the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) station of the Riyadh Metro, followed by the afternoon’s plenary programme. The UITP MENA Rail Workshop: Shaping the Future of Rail, was also held on 17 April 2025, in conjunction with the platform meeting.

The opening session of the platform meeting featured speeches from:

– Bader Alhujailan, Railways Deputy at Saudi Arabia’s Transport General Authority (TGA)

– Dr. Özgür Soy, CEO of Metro Istanbul

– Mohamed Mezghani, UITP Secretary General

Attendees then took part in a roundtable introduction session and regional updates, where they shared experiences and current developments in their urban rail networks.

UITP’s Jaspal Singh provided a snapshot of the association’s global activities, while Feyzullah Gundogdu (UITP) and Dr. Yıldıray Yedikardeş (Metro Istanbul) presented the Terms of Reference and outlined the vision and operating model of the new platform.

A key moment in the meeting was the presentation of EMURP’s initial workplan proposals, followed by an interactive live survey and open floor discussion. Participants identified priority themes and offered their perspectives on how the platform should evolve.

The event concluded with closing remarks from UITP Secretary General Mohamed Mezghani, who highlighted the importance of inter-regional platforms like EMURP in driving meaningful progress and peer-to-peer learning.

With its first meeting successfully concluded, EMURP now begins the task of translating shared priorities into practical collaboration. The platform will continue to build on momentum from Riyadh by establishing its first working groups and preparing for its next meeting, expected later this year.

Through continuous dialogue and hands-on cooperation, EMURP will provide members with a space to develop innovative solutions, exchange best practices, and strengthen regional capacity for delivering safe, efficient, and future-ready rail systems.

In parallel with the launch of the Eurasia MENA Urban Rail Platform, the UITP MENA Rail Workshop further explored the core topics outlined by the committee. The workshop focused on a series of sessions that aim to understand best practices, case studies, and enablers in advancing rail transit.

Also generously hosted by the Transport General Authority in Riyadh, the workshop tackled core challenges across four sessions: financing innovation, passenger flow management, resilience in operations, and multimodal integration.

Industry experts, regulatory authorities and operators discussed sustainable revenue and diversification of funding models – from PPPs to carbon credits – and covered real-time crowd monitoring, predictive analytics with AI and training to managing demand, passenger experiences and service delivery. Discussions on social behaviours, user experiences of passengers and on-demand service usage also underscored the need to align infrastructure with human behaviour and cultural context.

As UITP Secretary General Mohamed Mezghani aptly noted, “If it takes more than 30 seconds to understand how to use a transport system, it’s already too late.”

The workshop ultimately encompassed the platform’s mission; for the intentional work towards urban rail as intuitive, sustainable, and future-ready, to start today, by the people who design and operate it, for the people who need it the most.