61st RSSI C&S Exhibition

May 16-18, 2022

Kansas City Convention Center

Indianapolis, IN

 

Kansas City Welcomes 61st Annual RSSI C&S Exhibition

 

Kansas City, MO welcomed over 1400 rail suppliers, customers, and attendees to the 61st Annual RSSI C&S Exhibition held from May 16 to May 18, 2022.  Signage with the RSSI logo and colors hung from every streetlamp in the downtown area.

 

Over 160 exhibitors utilizing 150,000 square feet of exhibit space and two food courts serving breakfast and lunch hosted over 300 rail employees from all North American Class One railroads, and several regional rail and commuter companies.

 

RSSI again hosted Monday and Tuesday night social events featuring interactive games, food stations and quiet areas where old friends and business associates were able to spend time together.

 

The exhibit floor included an Innovation Theatre where several companies gave product presentations to select groups of signal engineers without taking customers out of the exhibit hall.

 

With the headquarters of KCS and BNSF’s Argentine railyard both located in Kansas City many signal managers and signal field employees who may not normally be able to attend the annual exhibition were able to join us.

 

Several RSSI member companies are headquartered in the Kansas and Missouri areas and were able to take advantage of the Kansas City exhibition and send additional attendees.

On Sunday and Monday AREMA hosted a C&S Symposium where papers and seminars on C&S projects were presented to over 200 attendees.  RSSI and AREMA have always enjoyed a close relationship with several signal engineers and C&S suppliers being members of the AREMA Signal and Crossing committees.  The technical manual parts that are developed by the AREMA committees play an integral part in making sure that the components and software used in the signal and crossing systems are built and maintained in a safety critical manner.

 

The primary function of RSSI is to host an annual exhibition where suppliers of signal, communications, crossing and IT products and systems can spend the maximum amount of time with their rail customers on the exhibit floor and at the RSSI social events.  The attendance at the 2022 Kansas City exhibition speaks to the loyalty of the RSSI customer base.

Railway Systems Suppliers, Inc. is a trade association serving the communication and signal segment of the rail transportation industry.

60th RSSI C&S Exhibition

September 21-24, 2021

Indianapolis Convention Center

Indianapolis, IN

 

900+ Attend RSSI C&S Exhibition in Indianapolis

 

First Major Face to Face Meeting Since COVID in Rail Industry is Huge Success!

 

After it was decided to cancel Railway Interchange 2021 due to the uncertainty of the COVID Virus the RSSI Board of Directors, at its April 2021 board meeting decided to move forward with planning a 2021 RSSI only C&S exhibition in place of Railway Interchange for its members and customers.

 

The 2020 RSSI Annual C&S Exhibition had been canceled due to the virus and with RI 2021 being canceled it would result in a two-and-a-half-year span between the 2019 Railway Interchange event and the next scheduled exhibition in 2022.  The availability and success of the COVID vaccinations gave the RSSI Board confidence that by September 2021 a face-to-face exhibition could be safely achieved.

 

A survey of RSSI membership and customers found that the majority were in favor of a face-to-face exhibition if all appropriate COVID safety guidelines could be met.

 

The RSSI staff reached out to the Indiana Convention Center and the Indianapolis hotels and plans began taking shape for the 60th Annual RSSI C&S Exhibition to be held in September 2021.

 

The COVID Delta Variance which appeared mainly in the Southern US in the spring of 2021 caused some anxious moments, but steps taken by the Convention Center and the hotels to meet and exceed the state and federal guidelines for COVID prevention were encouraging and on Thursday September 23rd the exhibition opened with over 1000 registered guests and 120 exhibitors.

 

The week of September 20, 2021 became a C&S rail industry week for the City of Indianapolis as AREMA signal and communications committees 36, 37, 38 and 39 met on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with over 70 attendees and the FRA held training classes for over 40 field specialists on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

Attendance at the RSSI social events held on Wednesday and Thursday exceeded all expectations. The social events included interactive games, a sports zone, food, and a quiet area where friends and business associates who had not seen one another for two years could socialize. At the opening ceremony for the exhibits Tim Orlandi, RSSI Board President, commented that “the fellowship felt at the social events was shared by all who attended”.

 

The 2021 RSSI exhibition, industry, corporate and regulatory meetings, and social events had no reported COVID related issues.

 

The 61st RSSI Annual C&S Exhibition will be held in Kansas City in May 2022. Booth sales will open in January 2022 and registration and hotel reservations will begin on February 2, 2022.