“As Covid-19 now affects all regions of the world, it has been decided to postpone the UIC World Congress on High Speed Rail scheduled from June 30 to July 3 in Beijing to a date yet to be defined,” the UIC said in a statement.

The IT-Trans exhibition and conference in Karlsruhe, Germany, which should have taken place this week, was postponed at short notice for the same reason. The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) hopes to reschedule the event.

However, Rail Live in Madrid will go-ahead on March 31 - April 1 as planned. Terrapinn says that the World Health Organisation and the Spanish Health Authorities do not regard the coronavirus a public health emergency in Spain. “There is no negative travel advice to visit Spain or the Madrid region and therefore Rail Live 2020 in Madrid will proceed as scheduled,” event organiser Terrapinn says. The company says it will continue to monitor the situation closely and it is working closely with the venue and following the latest health advice.