Aula Carlos Roa, in its commitment to the world of transport, held its seventh reflection and debate conference on Tuesday 24th last. On this occasion, the focus was on transport hubs.

The conference was presided over by Ineco Tifsa's chairman, Juan Torrejón, and co-ordinated and moderated by Miguel Aguiló, member of the Aula Carlos Roa advisory board and strategic planning manager for Grupo ACS. Also present were Antonio Monfort, general manager of Ineco Tifsa ,Guillermo Vázquez, the group's corporate general manger, and a large number of experts representing CEDEX, ADIF (Railway Infrastructure Administrator), Aena (Spanish Airports and Air Navigation), Madrid Transport Consortium, Iberia, Alsa, Iridium and Ineco Tifsa.

José Manuel Hesse, planning manager for Aena, started the round of reports explaining the "Evolution of Airport Terminals". He was followed by Antonio Vélez, architect, with a report on "Elements for a Debate on Interurban Bus Stations as Compared to Railway Stations and Airports. Current Scenario in Spain and Other Countries of Interest"; Fernando Gutiérrez del Arroyo, civil engineer, with "Transfers in Interurban Hubs" and Luis Vidal, architect, analysing "Planning vs. Improvisation". Reports were also presented by Iberia's sales manager Manuel López Colmenarejo, and Javier Dahl, architect at ADIF.

The debate, which was intense, was centred on the efficiency, convenience and competitiveness of transport hubs, highlighting the importance of these and the need to increase focus on travellers. The object of discussion was the possibility of creating a managing body to ensure more efficient multi-modality. Airport, railway and bus terminals were analysed, underlining the substantial development carried out in recent years, both in terms of comfort and as regards design and light. However, it became clear that efficient multi-modality is still an pending issue that requires ongoing effort.

As on previous occasions, Aula will publish a book compiling all the reports presented during the debate.