UIC eNews

UIC Global Signalling & Telecom Conference, 21-23 March 2013, Delhi: REGISTER NOW!

2013-02-27T09:16:52Z

The International Conference on Train Control Command Signalling and Radio-Communication organised by UIC, Indian Railways and RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. will take place from 21 – 23 March 2013 in New Delhi, India.

This conference is a world level expression of cooperation in the railway Signalling and Radio-Communication domains, as a consequence of the growing importance of the international market and the vital needs of train operators and rail infrastructure managers, within the chain of transmission of information for train control, diagnosis, maintenance, efficient management and traffic control, passenger information and leisure.

It aims at enabling open, relevant and comprehensive information exchange on the state-of-the-art, technologies, needs and requirements, as well as the vision of future systems. Up to 600 Signalling and Telecommunication specialists and VIPs from around the world are expected. Participating representatives of major industries and developing centres may also have the opportunity to take part in interactive dialogue, to endorse the requirements, vision and position of the railways and to express their efficient responses and future developments.

The two sections of the conference, led by 30 renowned speakers carefully selected by UIC (train operating companies, infrastructure managers, railway suppliers), will debate subjects such as:

Practical, real implementation of systems and lessons learned
Interoperability, modularity and inter-changeability
Consequences of rapid developments of technology – especially in the IT and radio-communication – IP introduction
Increased role of common norms and standards in a globalised technology world
Supply with guarantees for efficient life cycle operation
Decisions on new regional railway projects

In more detail and in the scope of the conference, the conclusions and outputs should provide the railway train control command signalling and radio communication domains with a clear vision on achievements and of development tendancy with concrete approach to demonstrate:

The capability of satisfying the basic needs and requirements for evolution in the rail transportation system
The opportunities to adapt modern systems to specific needs and requirements urged by particular traffic and train operations, regional developments, national inheritance and other such considerations
The maintenance of an efficient platform to largely federate the knowledge, the best practice, the converging requirements and assess the supply base for the systems in their evolution of techniques and technologies
The provision of support to the win-win process in the user-manufacturer relationship, where understanding of requirements and competition shall be responding to the market and the use of leading technologies to assure migration based on large technology developments.

The results of the study on “PROOF OF CONCEPT TRIAL OF VSAT BASED TRAIN CONTROL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM” undertaken in 2012 by UIC will also be detailed during this conference.

This event is free for UIC members and open for participation to any company interested in these topics.

Brochure

Brochure of the Delhi Conference (PDF)

You can register online: http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article3028

We look forward to meeting you soon in Delhi from 21 – 23 March 2013.

For further information please contact Béatrice Ségéral, Institutional Relations Department: segeral@uic.org

UIC Global Signalling & Telecom Conference confirmed to be held in Delhi from 21 to 23 March 2013

2013-02-12T17:07:55Z

The International Conference on Train Control Command Signalling and Radio-Communication organised by UIC, Indian Railways and RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. is confirmed to take place from 21 – 23 March 2013 in New Delhi, India.

It aims at enabling open, relevant and comprehensive information exchange on the state of the art, technologies, needs and requirements, as well as the vision of future systems. Up to 600 Signalling and telecommunication specialists and VIPs from around the world are expected. Participating representatives of major industries and developing centres may also have the opportunity to take part in interactive dialogue, to endorse the requirements, vision and position of the railways and to express their efficient responses and future developments.

The two sections of the conference, led by 30 renowned speakers carefully selected by UIC (train operating companies, infrastructure managers, railway suppliers), will debate subjects such as:

Practical, real implementation of systems and lessons learned
Interoperability, modularity and inter-changeability
Consequences of rapid developments of technology – especially in the IT and radio-communication – IP introduction
Increased role of common norms and standards in a globalised technology world
Supply with guarantees for efficient life cycle operation
Decisions on new regional railway projects

In more detail and in the scope of the conference, the conclusions and outputs should provide the railway train control command signalling and radio domains with a clear vision on achievements and of development tendency with concrete approach to demonstrate:

The capability of satisfying the basic needs and requirements for evolution in the rail transportation system
The opportunities to adapt modern systems to specific needs and requirements urged from particular traffic and train operations, regional developments, national inheritance and other such considerations
The maintenance of an efficient platform to largely federate the knowledge, the best practice, the converging requirements and assess the supply base for the systems in their evolution of techniques and technologies
The provision of support to the win-win process in the user-manufacturer relationship, where understanding of requirements and competition shall be responding to the market and the use of leading technologies to assure migration based on large technology developments.

The results of the study on “PROOF OF CONCEPT TRIAL OF VSAT BASED TRAIN CONTROL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM” undertaken in 2012 by UIC will also be detailed during this conference.

This event is free for UIC members and open for participation to any company interested in these topics.

Programme

Programme of the Delhi Conference (PDF)

You can register online: http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article3028

We look forward to meeting you soon in Delhi from 21 – 23 March 2013.

For further information please contact Béatrice Ségéral, Institutional Relations Department: segeral@uic.org

European Level Crossing Forum (ELCF) met on 24 January and ILCAD Task Force on 25 January in Utrecht

2013-02-05T16:53:54Z

At the kind invitation of Jeroen Nederlof (ProRail) 27 people from different European countries, from railways, UN-ECE, ETSC and ESA, met on 24 January in Utrecht during the 14th European Level Crossing Forum (ELCF) chaired by Alan Davies (RSSB).

Alan Davies reported on previous events: the Global Level Crossing and Trespass Symposium and the International Railway Safety Conference (IRSC) that took place in October 2012 in London.

For further information you can consult the following sites – IRSC 2012: www.irsc2012.org and GLX 2012: www.levelcrossing2012.org

The next IRSC (annual event) will take place in October 2013 in Vancouver. The next biannual GLX Symposium will take place in 2014 in Chicago. For more information on IRSC 2013 please visit: www.irsc2013.org

Isabelle Fonverne (UIC), ELCF Secretary and ILCAD Coordinator, briefly reported on the Euromed training session from 26 – 27 November 2012 in Brussels in which she participated as a trainer on level crossing safety. Finally she informed participants about the UIC coordinated EU Restrail project (REduction of Suicides and Trespasses on RAILway property) and the second RESTRAIL Info Day held in Paris on 12 December 2012. She reminded the audience that the next Info Day open to all will take place on 20 June 2013 in Paris.

Robert Nowak of UN-ECE spoke about the proposed multidisciplinary group on level crossing safety to be hosted at UNECE in Geneva. He presented the terms of reference available on their internet website and which have been endorsed by different UN-ECE working parties and entities. Final endorsement should happen very soon, the kick-off meeting should take place in 2013 (TBC).

Peter Gerhardt, Head of the UIC Safety Unit reported on safety, human factors and occupational health initiatives as well as safety performance data collection.

Jeroen Nederlof of Prorail presented “Public level crossings for pedestrians and cyclists in the Netherlands”.

Michael Woods (RSSB) gave a presentation on “Pedestrian risk at level crossings and the need for an agreed decision point”. Michael finally reported on the Fourth International Rail Human Factors Conference in London from 5 – 7 March 2013 organised jointly by RSSB/Network Rail/Nottingham University dealing mainly with human factor issues: www.railhf2013.org

Carl Duranthon/Network Rail presented the NR national strategy for level crossings.

Finally we had two presentations from Jeroen Nederlof and Nicole van Nes/Research institute SWOV on the possibilities of car navigation use to improve LX safety.

Rob Postema/ESA: European Space Agency reported on a new ESA project on “improving safety at railway level crossings” supported by Space Assets. 1% of ESA's budget is dedicated to the integrated applications promotion programme. TOMTOM came out of the US space programme, based on the military GPS product. They are also working on ice thickness measurements at the poles to improve winter navigation. Other applications include GNSS, Earth Observations can check vegetation on a weekly basis. Radar can check subsidence. They finance 35 feasibility studies a year. 50% of them continue in a development programme. Last year in July they published a call for tender on LC safety with seven proposals of good quality – they are funding two, Saferail and Lecross. If these feasibility studies are successful, then ESA will fund them as development programmes.

On 25 January the ILCAD Task Force members gathered to present education campaigns on level crossing safety in their respective countries:

Job van Beek (ProRail, Netherlands): to note their campaign for young people with a well known rap singer in the Netherlands: Mr. Polska: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cck0qkbQasM

Daniela Detersova and Martina Pavlikova (ZSR, Slovak Republic): to note their video with a car driving on a long and straight road parallel to railway tracks on which a locomotive would start and brake at the same time as the car but at different speeds to show the distances taken by a train and a car to break. The results are

At 30km/h – breaking distances: Car: 5 m Engine: 40 m

At 50km/h – breaking distances: Car: 10 m Engine: 94 m

At 80km/h – breaking distances: Car: 18 m Engine: 236 m

The video was visible on TV at peak hours; there was a press conference with the ZSR General Director and 30 journalists and TV teams from Slovakia. Their poster and billboard were displayed in 30 different places across the country.

Georgina Chalmers (Network Rail U.K.) presented the NR rail campaign and showed different videos that you can find on their website: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/level-crossings/ or visible on http://www.rail-life.co.uk/

She presented the video “See Track Think Train”: Railway crossings TV ad”: http://youtu.be/Uy-sIfsW7tg launched during the GLX and IRSC event in London at national level, in the media, on internet with interviews of Martin Gallagher: very large audience.

This video will be visible at least until ILCAD 2013 in May. She also showed the video “See Track Think Train – behind the scene”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBqqUTq_aow

They also used this video “Professor Green says #LoseUrHeadphones” http://youtu.be/rNRkZd34uhE

Katarzyna Kucharek (PKP PLK Poland): they plan to continue their SAFE MONDAY campaign (on the third Monday of the month) with police forces in 23 different cities to give fines to offenders. In 2013 they intend to have a unique identification number at each level crossing. The plate at the level crossing will include a phone number for failure problems and another one in case of an accident: the European number 112. PKP PLK will participate again in ILCAD 2013 on 7 May. On 24 May they will inaugurate the next edition of their national campaign A SAFE LX – “STOP AND LIVE!” They will have a mobile education park to educate kids. They also launched a competition for schools:

http://www.bezpieczny-przejazd.pl/

Tine Verheyden (Infrabel) presented a very targeted campaign towards truck drivers in the Port of Antwerp. Each day about 10,000 truck drivers, from different nationalities, drive to and from the port of Antwerp with containers, as well as 250 freight trains a day. In 2011 they had 19 level crossing accidents in the port of Antwerp (= 40%), 70% of these accidents involved truck drivers. The port of Antwerp consists of 1,100 km of railway tracks and 206 level crossings. Drivers drive too fast in the port. They will start their campaign with the support of the Port of Antwerp, the Transport federations and Unions. They will then send a message to the transport companies driving through the port of Antwerp and the companies in the port of Antwerp. They will also distribute the message through a safety leaflet directly to the truck drivers driving through the port of Antwerp. In the coming years they hope to have all level crossings in the GPS owned by the truck drivers. They will also work more with the police forces to step up enforcement. The campaign in the Port of Antwerp should take place in March 2013.

http://www.infrabel.be/en/about-infrabel/safety/safety-level-crossings

Finally Isabelle Fonverne gave a short overview of ILCAD 2012, which was the third edition. ILCAD 2012 had great success in the press, on internet (6 more visits to the website compared to 2011, 5th most visited UIC website among bigger projects), on social media: https://www.facebook.com/ and https://twitter.com/ ILCAD. Then she presented ideas for the ILCAD 2013 campaign. UNECE will host ILCAD within the 2nd Global UN Road Safety Week, the core message being pedestrian and vulnerable persons' safety. We will organise the 3rd drawing contest for children on pedestrian safety.

We will issue new posters, a short version (30”) of the 2012 video with children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaA6lB7dBJA and a new video with the support from UN-ECE and the Swiss Federal Office of Transport.

On 7 May there will be an International press conference, a round table and an exhibition at UN-ECE premises in Geneva. More info to follow: www.ilcad.org

For further information you can contact Isabelle Fonverne: fonverne@uic.org

UIC Global Signalling & Telecom Conference to be held in Delhi

2012-12-18T16:23:54Z

The International Conference on Train Control Command Signalling and Radio-Communication is being organised by UIC (International Union of Railways), Indian Railways and RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. Initially scheduled on 15 – 17 January 2013 the conference has been postponed to 21 – 23 March 2013.

This conference will mark the 3rd edition of the Conference on Control Command Signalling, which is a periodic event – every two years – agreed at UIC world level as an expression of cooperation in the signalling domain, and for first time also including Radio-Communication, as a consequence of the growing importance of the radio-communication and its vital need for train operations, within the chain of transmission of information for train control, diagnosis, maintenance, efficient management and traffic control, passenger information and leisure.

The conference aims at enabling open, relevant and comprehensive information exchange on the state of the art, technologies, needs and requirements, as well as the vision of future systems. In 2013, the conference will bring together signalling and telecommunication specialists from around the world. Participating representatives of major industries and developing centres may also have the opportunity to take part in interactive dialogue, to endorse the requirements, vision and position of the railways and to express their efficient responses and future developments.

The two sections of the conference (CCS and Radio) will debate subjects such as:

Practical, real implementation of systems and lessons learned
Interoperability, modularity and inter-changeability
Consequences of rapid developments of technology – especially in the IT and radio-communication – IP introduction
Increased role of common norms and standards in a globalised technology world
Supply with guarantees for efficient life cycle operation
Decisions on new railways regional projects

In more detail and in the scope of the conference the conclusions and outputs should provide the railway train control command signalling and radio domains with a clear vision on achievements and of development tendency with concrete approach to demonstrate:

The capability of satisfying the basic needs and requirements for evolution in the rail transportation system
The opportunities to adapt modern systems to specific needs and requirements urged from particular traffic and train operations, regional developments, national inheritance and other such considerations
The maintenance around UIC of an efficient platform to largely federate the knowledge, the best practice, the converging requirements and assess the supply base for the systems in their evolution of techniques and technologies
The provision of support to the win-win process in the users-manufacturers relationship, where understanding of requirements and competition shall be responding to the market and the use of leading technologies to assure migration based on large technology developments.

We look forward to meeting you soon in Delhi from 21 – 23 March 2013.

You can register online: http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article3028

For further information please contact Béatrice Ségéral, Institutional Relations Department: segeral@uic.org

SBB continues to develop ETCS automatic train stopping system

2012-11-27T14:16:01Z

For customers, the European Train Control System (ETCS) guarantees higher levels of safety, capacity and fewer delays. 480 of SBB's 1700 vehicles have already been equipped with ETCS, and 230 vehicles are due to be fitted with the system very soon. SBB has presently published the award of the contract to Siemens on the simap.ch website.

The European Train Control System (ETCS) seeks to improve levels of safety and capacity, and reduce delays on the world's densest network. Thanks to this modern and standardised automatic train stopping system, trains can operate at close intervals with maximum safety. Currently, mainline trains and some SBB Cargo vehicles have already been fitted with ETCS by Alstom, Siemens and Bombardier, bringing the number of ETCS-fitted vehicles to 480 out of around 1700. On the other hand, regional traffic vehicles – which do not run on the Swiss high speed network – are still equipped with the SIGNUM and ZUB systems. Since these trains will be required to operate on stretches of track with cab signalling from mid-2015, SBB has launched a tender to fit an additional 230 SBB Cargo, Infrastructure, Region Alps and FERROVIENORD vehicles. This step is part of the Federal office of Transport's (FOT) roll-out strategy to see that all vehicles are fitted with the ETCS system by 2025.

(Source: SBB)

UIC Global Signalling & Telecom Conference, to be held from 15 – 17 January 2013 in Delhi

2012-11-15T11:23:14Z

The International Conference on Train Control Command Signalling (CCS) and Radio-Communication, organised by UIC, Indian Railways (IR) and RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, will take place from 15 – 17 January 2013 in Delhi, India.

This conference will mark the 3rd edition of the Conference on Control Command Signalling, which is a periodic event – held every two years – agreed at UIC world level as an expression of cooperation in the signalling domain. For the first time the event will team up with Radio-Communication, as a consequence of the growing importance of radio-communication and its vital need for train operations, within the chain of transmission of information for train control, diagnosis, maintenance, efficient management and traffic control, passenger information and leisure.

The conference aims at enabling open, relevant and comprehensive information exchange on the state-of-the-art, technologies, needs and requirements, as well as the vision on future systems. In 2013, the conference will bring together signalling and telecommunication specialists from around the world. Participating representatives of major industries and developing centres may also have the opportunity to hold interactive dialogue, to endorse the requirements, vision and position of the railways and to express their efficient responses and future developments.

The two sections of the conference (CCS and Radio) will debate subjects such as:

Practical, real implementation of systems and lessons learned
Interoperability, modularity and inter-changeability
Consequences of rapid developments of technology – especially in the IT and radio-communication – IP introduction
Increased role of common norms and standards in a globalised technology world
Supply with guarantees for efficient life cycle operation
Decisions on new regional railway projects

The capability of satisfying the basic needs and requirements for evolution in the rail transportation system
The opportunities of adaptation of modern systems to specific needs and requirements urged from the particular traffic and train operations, regional developments, national inheritance and other such considerations
The maintenance around UIC of an efficient platform to largely federate the knowledge, best practice, converging requirements and assess the supply base for the systems in their evolution of techniques and technologies
The provision of support to the win-win process in the user-manufacturer relationship, where understanding of requirements and competition shall be responding to the market and the use of leading technologies to assure migration based on large technology developments

We look forward to meeting you soon in Delhi from 15 – 17 January 2013.

For further information please contact Béatrice Ségéral, Institutional Relations Department: segeral@uic.org

ERTMS Regional

2012-09-12T08:56:35Z

UIC and Trafikverket (formally Banverket) from Sweden launched an ERTMS regional project in 1999. The main reason for this was that the conventional ETCS-system was becoming too costly for low density lines and so Trafikverket needed to find a solution based on ERTMS specifications. Functional requirement specifications were developed in 2003, following which Trafikverket launched an open tendering process in accordance with EU rules. After a period of evaluation Bombardier was selected to equip the Västerdalsbanan pilot line in 2005. Together with the supplier, Trafikverket and UIC developed all the specifications and risk analyses between 2006 and 2007. After that it took three years to develop the system. ERTMS Regional was first installed on the pilot line in 2009. After a year's work the testing of installations and functionality started in 2010 and at the end of 2011 all the tests were completed. The line was commissioned for commercial traffic on 21 February 2012.

ERTMS Regional is the first application of ETCS Level 3 train control with fixed block and no train integrity monitoring system. The system has been designed according to Cenelec norms and fulfils Cenelec SIL 4 requirements with a SIL 3 safety classification. The onboard system has been equipped with the normal ERTMS system and has been adopted without any changes to the existing system. Compared to normal interlocking and ETCS Level 1 and Level 2, one of the biggest advantages of the Regional solution is that the interlocking functions and RBC (Radio Block Centre) are integrated. The Object Controller and RBC connect directly to the Traffic Control Centre (TCC), which is located in Borlänge, and only one TCC is needed to handle the whole line. The TCC also directly connects to the Traffic Management System in Gävle. The Regional solution could cut investment costs by half.

The main differences can be seen in the track side equipment. There is no need for track vacancy proving systems and optical signals, meaning fewer cables are needed. The object controllers handle points and level crossings and all outside equipment needed. Due to the decreased amount of controlled objects only one small Object Controller cabin is needed in the stations, resulting in lower investments and maintenance costs. ERTMS Regional is most suitable for lines which are equipped with old interlocking which should be removed, no line block systems, no existing ATP (Automatic Train Protection) system and dispatching is handled manually by telephone. 20 – 30% of the European rail network can probably be regarded as regional line and the system meets all the latest interoperability requirements.

ERTMS Regional increases safety, capacity and flexibility in lines where it is suitable for use. From a commercial point of view it will expand the ERTMS market when ERTMS Regional is part of ERTMS family and will be open to all railways and suppliers. UIC will continue to finalise the Regional specifications to make them available to all interested parties. The Working Group will be established this year and the target is to have generic specifications and an ERTMS regional deployment plan by the end of 2014.

For further information please contact Veli-Matti Kantamaa, UIC Rail System Department: kantamaa@uic.org

12th Global Level Crossing and Trespass Symposium to be held from 8 – 10 October in London!

2012-08-28T13:11:43Z

The Global Level Crossing and Trespass Symposium (GLXS) is a biennial event that brings together safety professionals from road, rail, enforcement and regulatory authorities around the world. The delegates exchange information and share good practice for improving safety at level crossings. This year the event will be held in London, hosted jointly by RSSB (Rail Safety and Standards Board), Network Rail (Britain's rail infrastructure manager) and ORR (Office of Rail Regulation).

The theme of the symposium will be “Working together to improve safety at level crossings.” Presentations will include:

Working with highway authorities
Innovation and new design
Intelligent Transportation Systems
Communications
Education of motorists and the public
Enforcement
Evaluation
Human behaviour
Latest research

There will also be a discussion on railway trespassing issues.

The event will take place from Monday 8th to Wednesday 10th October at the Pullman London St Pancras Hotel. Have a look at www.levelcrossing2012.org for more information and registration forms.

INESS training meeting (Paris, 7-9 March 2012)

2012-03-27T13:56:06Z

From 7 – 9 March 2012, an INESS training meeting was held at UIC Headquarters in Paris. This three-day training was not a training session in the traditional sense, but provided an overview of the achievements of INESS as a whole and of each of the Work Streams.

Several of the sessions also included workshops in which the actual application of the products generated was demonstrated. Each of the sessions concluded with a lively and in-depth discussion, where no questions remained unanswered.

The meeting was attended by 102 participants from 22 countries, with the majority from Europe as well as people from Canada, Iran, Korea, China, Russia, India and Japan. There was a strong participant turnout over the course of the three days. Fortunately, the feedback given by several of the participants was very positive – all in all a good way to finish the INESS project.

For more information you can contact Paul Schreinemakers, work training package leader: paul.schreinemakers@prorail.nl and Emmanuel Buseyne, INESS Project Manager: buseyne@uic.org

10th UIC ERTMS World Conference: an attractive programme

2012-03-07T15:53:33Z

More than 300 participants and speakers have already registered and confirmed their participation at the 10th UIC ERTMS World Conference.

Some interesting topics that will be presented:

Political vision of ERTMS by the European Commission, the European Railway Agency, the Community of European Railways
The latest results of the UIC ERTMS Benchmark project by Vincenzo Carpinelli, Technical Adviser at UIC
The issue of testing, certification and authorisation of ERTMS by Hanspeter Hänni of the National Safety Authority in Switzerland
Several country projects such as South Korea, Poland and the United Kingdom will be presented to give an overview of the various solutions adopted
How ERTMS level 2 acts on interlocking to boost traffic over legacy system by Wim Bakker, ProRail and Paul Visser, Alstom
Fast migration using limited supervision in Switzerland by Andreas Zünd, SBB and Bernhard Stamm, Siemens AG Mobility

A large number of exhibitors will present their solutions and technologies. Among them: Trafikverket and UIC, Thales, Invensys Rail, Siemens Transportation, Mermec SpA, Ansaldo STS, Bombardier Transportation, GE Transportation, Kapsch CarrierCom AG, Multitel, Frequentis AG, ERSA, Pixy et ERTMS Solutions, AZD Praha SRO, Sagem Communications, Wenzel, EurailPress

There are still some exhibition booths and a few sponsoring opportunities left! http://www.ertms-conference2012.com/

For more information and online registration, please visit the ERTMS 2012 conference website: http://www.ertms-conference2012.com

Contact for exhibition and sponsoring: ertms2012@congrex.com

Please find below the ERTMS Key Speakers

INESS General Assembly (Paris, 3 February 2012)

2012-02-15T10:08:06Z

The INESS project launched in October 2008 will be coming to an end in March 2012. To mark the end of the project and present its results the INESS Final Conference was held at UIC Paris on 3 February 2012. The free one-day conference attracted 135 participants from the railway signalling sector and procurement professionals, IMs, industry executives, transport ministries representing European governments and European standardisation bodies and authorities. The morning session included presentations on project results and lessons learned.

The meeting was opened by UIC Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, who extended a warm welcome to all the participants and key speakers. He explained the importance of the INESS project. Mr Loubinoux underlined in his speech that INESS responds to the stringent needs of railway signalling in the interlocking domain. UIC will commit to a follow-up project using the INESS specifications to build an INESS interlocking functional prototype. He confirmed that UIC is also strongly committed to playing its role of railway coordinator and pre-standardisation body in order to enforce the INESS specification as a norm and later as a TSI; will further maintain all INESS results in a dedicated platform and, finally, that UIC will have its specialists available to enable the results to be appropriately disseminated and exploited further. Michal Klima, EC Project Coordinator, underlined the importance of the INESS project in the signalling domain with 30 partners from the railways, the supply industry, research, academia, 1062 person*months, 102 deliverables and 16,6 million Euro with 10 million Euro of co-funding from the EC. INESS Project Manager Emmanuel Buseyne, UIC, explained INESS' background, its scope, the new specification and design concept emphasising the benefits of using a model-based approach, and demonstrating that INESS has achieved a complete specification work and tool chain fully exploitable for the implementation of an INESS IxL. The keynote speech of the supply industry was delivered by Maurizio Rosi, Ansaldo STS, who explained the importance of railways and industry working together and making the project a success. He confirmed that INESS' outcomes are solid and fit to become the foundation of a further research project; the commitment of most of its participants is proven by their willingness to be together in a new EU-financed project, if ESAR receives the desired green light. The involvement of NSAs and MSs can overcome some difficulties in T&C and SaCa; a closer approach with ERA can fine-tune the strategy of the migration approach.

The railways' point of view was presented by ADIF's representative Jorge Iglesias, who demonstrated the main results achieved by INESS including IxL ERTMS Compliant Common Core; Functional Architecture; Three Interface Definitions (IxL-RBC, IxL-CLC and IxL-IxL); IxL Data Model; Harmonised Safety Case Process (WS G); Harmonised Procedures for Testing and Commissioning (first approach). Dr Iglesias underlined that the ESAR project proposal is the best way to exploit the INESS results and that the final results of the ESAR project will demonstrate the benefits and feasibility of both the extended core of requirements and interfaces specified in INESS in order to be enforced as a TSI by ERA.

The meeting was continued with the presentation of results by workstream leaders. Dr Bernd Elsweiler from DB Netz explained that INESS showed fields for optimisation and standardisation. Now we will need appropriate cooperation models to achieve the identified cost saving potentials. Tom Stein, Bombardier, provided explanations on EUDRI; Wendi Mennen, ProRail, further confirmed that her workstream achieved the goal of an ERTMS compliant common kernel, including a model of the common kernel and achieved the goal of having available methods and tools for verification and validation. Jorge Gamelas, Trafikverket, explained the work results of Functional Architecture. Neil Barnatt, NetworkRail, presented the conclusions of work for Testing & Commissioning, including the positive effects of a reduction/removal of on-site testing. These were: a combination of techniques will produce the optimal answer; techniques are not mutually exclusive; a generalised method of assessing the effectiveness of testing has been designed; reduce reliance on bespoke designs, and he explained impact and applicability. Geltmar Von Buxhoeveden, TUBS, and Carsten Trog, showed the work results of the safety case process, explaining that formalisation of CENELEC norms helped to understand the process; GSN method significantly helped to: bring integrity to the safety case argumentation; save time and money by streamlining project meetings and system design in new projects as well as in migration projects. The combination of GSN Tool and DMS makes information very accessible to project management, system engineers and developers, safety assessors and customers.

The General Assembly was followed by two sessions of six interactive workshops including the presentation of the INESS Business model; Who needs EUDRI – how to find a European unified description of railway infrastructures; verification and validation of the common core requirements; INESS system architecture and interfaces – method for evaluating different fallback solutions; testing concepts and how to apply a reduced data set to advantage; improving the safety case development: workflow improvement through tool support. In conclusion, George Barbu, UIC, INESS EU coordinator underlined that INESS is, after ETCS, the most important project in the domain of signalling and train control in Europe and that INESS is a unique chance for railways and industry to conceive together the future of interlocking technology.

For further information please contact Emmanuel Buseyne, INESS Project Manager: buseyne@uic.org and George Barbu, INESS Coordinator: barbu@uic.org

GLXS 2012 registration and call for abstracts now open

2012-02-01T10:25:56Z

The GLXS 2012 Organising Committee is pleased to announce that registration and the call for abstracts for the 12th Global Level Crossing and Trespass Symposium (GLXS) are now officially open.

This year's conference is co-hosted by the Rail Safety and Standards Board, Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation.

The theme of the 12th Symposium will be ‘Working together to improve safety and performance at level crossings'. The event in London will also consider trespass on the railway, accessed from level crossings, as an additional safety issue.

Registration

Delegate registration for the conference is GBP 540 (inc VAT) and this includes all of the traditional elements – three days of conference (including a half day combined with the International Railway Safety Conference), a full social programme, starting on Sunday 7 and technical visits on 11 and 12 October.

An exciting partner programme is also arranged for the three days of the conference, and including all of the GLXS social events is available for GBP £240 (inc VAT).

To register, please click below and follow the prompts to register and complete your payment. Payment is required to confirm your attendance: http://www.levelcrossing2012.org/Re...

Accommodation

The conference will be held at the St. Pancras Novotel, London. Special delegate rates have been secured at the St. Pancras Novotel Hotel from Friday 5 October to Friday 12 October 2011. To book accommodation at the St. Pancras Novotel, please click at: http://www.levelcrossing2012.org/Ve...

Accommodation has also been secured at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, which is located a short walk from the St. Pancras Novotel. To book accommodation at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, please click at: http://www.levelcrossing2012.org/Ve...

There is a good allocation of rooms available at the special rates we have negotiated at the St. Pancras Novotel and the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotels, but it is possible that these could all be used up so it is advisable to book as early as possible to secure them. When all the discounted rooms have been booked, a higher rate will apply.

There are also several other hotels in the vicinity of St. Pancras where you can also book accommodation. These can also be found on the GLXS 2012 website: http://www.levelcrossing2012.org/Ve...

The Programme

The GLXS 2012 conference programme overview is available at: http://www.levelcrossing2012.org/Pr...

Abstracts

This is also an invitation to submit abstracts of potential papers to be presented to the conference – to be considered for the conference, these must be received by 20 April 2012.

A panel will review all abstracts received by 20 April, and the selection of authors to be invited to present to the conference will be based on the following criteria:

How the submissions meet the purpose of the symposium and address the theme and topics.
The originality of the paper.
New ideas incorporated.
The committee will also try to get a fair geographical balance among the papers.

The guidelines for submitting abstracts can be found at: http://www.levelcrossing2012.org/pa...

The Organising Committee looks forward to seeing you in London at GLXS 2012 in October.

For more information please contact Helen Dumbrell, RSSB Conference Manager, via conferences@rssb.co.uk or phone her on +44 (0)20 3142 5329 if you need any assistance.

INESS TRAINING PROGRAMME (7 – 9 March 2012, UIC HQ - Paris)

2012-01-24T15:21:55Z

The INESS (INtegrated European Signalling System) R&D project, launched in October 2008 and funded by the EU Commission under the First Call of the Seventh EU R&D framework programme, will be coming to an end in March 2012.

To mark the end of the project and present its results

We have the pleasure to invite you to:

The INESS Training program, 7 – 9 March 2012

Training Objectives:

Explanations on benefits of a common method for describing functionalities to railway asset managers
Dissemination about the common kernel and explain the advantage for infrastructure managers, industry partners and safety authorities
Explanations on the advantages of using the common kernel in order to convince standardisation bodies to work towards a European standard
A presentation about the Interlocking-RBC interface FFFIS, focusing on the benefits of standard interfaces
A demonstration of advantages for infrastructure managers, industry partners and safety authorities in each country on using the INESS architecture/interface specifications
Demonstration of the process towards a proposal for a standardised system architecture to standard setting and regulatory bodies, safety authorities and the European Railway Agency
A presentation about the harmonised testing and commissioning of interlockings explaining the advantage for infrastructure managers, industry partners and safety authorities in each country
The use of the work bench in projects

Who you will meet:

Railway infrastructure managers – management & engineering level
Suppliers – management & engineering level
Railway operators
Industry
Data managers and project managers
Procurement department from the European railways
Business development and Financial department from the European industry

PLEASE RESERVE YOUR DATES!

For more information about the program, registration and further information about the event, please contact Maria Lafont: lafont@uic.org or consult our dedicated website: http://www.iness.eu/spip.php?article13

INESS Training Programme

2011-12-06T15:03:54Z

Registration has started for our Free INESS Training programme, 7 – 9 March 2012. The programme, registration form and further information about the event is now available online http://www.iness.eu/spip.php?article13

The INESS training programme will contain:

Explanations on benefits of a common method for describing functionalities to the railway asset managers
Dissemination about the common kernel and the advantages for infrastructure managers, industry partners and safety authorities
Explanations on the advantages of using the common kernel in order to convince standardisation bodies to work towards a European standard
A presentation about the Interlocking-RBC interface FFFIS, focusing on the benefits of standard interfaces
A demonstration on advantages for infrastructure managers, industry partners and safety authorities in each country on using the INESS architecture/interface specifications
Demonstration on the process towards a proposal for a standardised system architecture to standard setting and regulatory bodies, safety authorities and the European Railway Agency
A presentation about the harmonised testing and commissioning of interlockings explaining the advantage for infrastructure managers, industry partners and safety authorities in each country
The use of the work bench in projects

Who you will meet:

Railway infrastructure managers – management & engineering level
Suppliers – management & engineering level
Railway operators
Industry
Data and project managers
Procurement department from European Railways
Business development and financial departments from the European industry

This three-day training programme will be held at UIC Headquarters in Paris. The event will be held in English. Included:

Lunches and coffee breaks during working sessions
Documentation package in English
1 social event (dinner) on 7 March 2012

PLEASE RESERVE YOUR DATES!

To participate in the INESS Final Conference on 3 February 2012, please register online now at http://www.iness.eu/spip.php?article7

For further information about the programme of the events please visit our dedicated website www.iness.eu or contact Maria Lafont, WS H Leader lafont@uic.org

Save the date - 3rd International Conference on Communications-based Train Control and Train Efficiency

2011-10-05T14:23:22Z

Conference scope and aims

The third international train control conference is organised by the AAR (Association of American Railroads) and UIC (International Railway Union) in conjunction with the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, the Transportation Research Board (US), and the Transportation Technology Center.

The conference is a periodic event – every two years – agreed at the UIC world level as an expression of cooperation in the signalling domain and has been organized around the idea that, while the various train control systems currently being installed around the world differ in many respects, their overall objectives are mostly similar as are many of the obstacles they have had to face. It is also assumed that no single organization has a monopoly on good ideas. The conference therefore has the aim of bringing together knowledgeable professionals world-wide in order to facilitate an exchange of information and ideas on technical issues related to train control and train efficiency.

Subjects and presentations

Consistent with its scope and objectives, the conference will include presentations by highly-qualified speakers on the following subjects:

Session 1 will occupy the first half-day and will address the architecture, purpose and status of selected train control systems worldwide that are in service or are currently being deployed.

Session 2, Common Problems, Different Solutions, is divided into four parts over the next two half-days and will address specific issues related to subjects such as communications, enforcement algorithms, location systems, standards and configuration management, training, and interoperability requirements. There will also be discussions of advances in train efficiency and train automation.

Session 3, Common Problems, Common Solutions?, will look at opportunities to work in collaboration on a variety of issues including whether there is the potential for standardization of certain subsystems, and whether common approaches to such things as migration planning, system verification and validation, and validation by testing could produce benefits. The possibility of joint research projects will be explored.

Session 4 wraps up the second day of the conference and will focus on lessons learned and will examine the way forward, concluding with a roundtable question and answer period.

Organisation

The Conference will be hosted by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), and will take place at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver on April 30 and May 1, 2012. Rooms have been reserved at the Grand Hyatt Hotel which is a short walk from the Convention Center. Registration and a welcoming reception will take place at the hotel on Sunday evening, April 29.

While the official conference concludes at the end of the day on May 1, attendees will be able to participate in an optional field trip to TTCI's internationally recognized research and testing facilities in Pueblo, Colorado, on May 2nd. Bus transportation will be provided. The program at TTCI will include a tour of the physical facility as well as presentations on train control-related research projects.

The goal of the conference is to enable an open exchange of information and speakers will have the freedom to relate their own experiences, expertise and ideas consistent with that goal. The focus will be on the objectives of developing a mutual understanding of the needs and requirements of modern systems of train control, of the prospect of convergence, and support of a common vision for core signalling systems.

Provision is being made to accommodate a limited number of exhibitors of goods and services related to the subject of the conference. Full information for exhibitors will be available shortly, but advance indications of interest can be made to Kelly Donley, Asst. VP-Industry Relations, at: kdonley@aar.org.

Program and other details

A conference website is currently under development. It will have registration information as well as links to both the hotel and also to an exhibitors' page. It will be frequently updated as information is made available on program details and committed speakers. The conference website will be accessible through both the UIC and the AAR websites.

INESS Final Conference will be held at UIC Paris on 3 February 2012

2011-09-27T13:16:26Z

The INESS project launched in October 2008 will be coming to an end in March 2012. To mark the end of the project and present its results, the INESS Final Conference will be held at UIC Paris on 3 February 2012.

The programme of a one-day conference will consist of:

The morning session - presentations on projects results and lessons learned;
The afternoon session - a Market place and break out sessions where each WS will demonstrate the results, tools and methods used and discuss specific topics.

The Conference is open to all EU participants.

To assure the long-term success of INESS and the availability of skilled and trained workforce for the implementation of INESS results : Three-day INESS Training session will be held on March 7-9, 2012, UIC Paris

Project background:

INESS' main objective is to significantly reduce life-cycle costs of future interlockings and associated outdoor equipment. All possibilities for cost-reduction in the various implementation phases ranging from planning and site-specific engineering, procurement, commissioning (including safety approval) to maintenance (including adaptations to changes of the operational requirements) need to be explored. Standardisation, increased competitive tendering and significant reduction of implementation time are considered to be key requirements for the future. Consequently, railways are aware of the need for well defined strategies to achieve a migration from the present configuration towards a new harmonised Interlocking system with efficient integration with the adjacent systems for Centralised Traffic Control, ERTMS, and other relevant systems.

The European Commission, the European Railway Associations together with the Railway Supply Industry have agreed to work closely together to define a feasible migration strategy for ERTMS. This unique co-operation has offered the possibility to co-ordinate the implementation of the current constituent parts of ERTMS. Thereby it is becoming more and more evident that this process could be hampered by the lack of standardisation in the signalling layer. INESS is therefore needed to support the development of a new generation of interlocking systems with optimal unified interfaces towards adjacent subsystems such as remote control, neighbour interlocking, outdoor equipment and in particular ETCS.

For further information about the programme of both events please consult the dedicated website www.iness.eu or please contact Maria Lafont, WS H Leader: lafont@uic.org

Training on “Signalling and Railway Safety” (Paris, UIC, 6 – 8 July 2011)

2011-07-11T14:30:50Z

The first edition of the training dedicated to “Signalling and Railway Safety”, which took place at UIC from 6 – 8 July 2011, was attended by 40 participants from 12 countries.

As UIC Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux pointed out in his welcome address, the training was organised as a follow-up to the international training needs' survey conducted among all UIC members by the UIC expertise development unit, as well as a follow-up to the conference targeted at signalling experts, which took place in Tokyo in 2010.

The purpose of the three-day training was to look at signalling from an integrated perspective and was attended by both signalling engineers and safety experts. The first day was dedicated to the core principles, research and current developments of railway signalling. Particular attention was paid to recognising the basic principles of signalling and its systematic application irrespective of the technology being used.

The second day looked at the transition from traditional signalling to new systems, while on the third day, the attendees had a good insight into signalling from the perspective of the driver, signalman, traffic controller and dispatcher. The training session was designed so that at the end of the training the attendees would:

Have an overall vision of what constitutes signalling
Understand the stakes at play in signalling performance and in particular its relation to overall safety as part of a single railway system
Be able to make and justify choices in signalling applications and technology
Be able to implement safety management according to the choices made

For more information about UIC training sessions please consult http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article2034

For more information please contact Contact Nathalie Amirault, Head of the Expertise Development Unit: amirault@uic.org

ERTMS regional pilot in Sweden, with a view to beginning commercial operation by the end of 2011

2011-06-15T12:26:08Z

In 2005 the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket – TRV) and Bombardier started adapting the infrastructure of the regional line Borlänge-Malung (135 km of single track with six simple stations) to implement the ERTMS regional concept. This was based on the work of UIC and on the UIC Functional and Operational Requirements Specifications. The first set of UIC specifications which was used by Trafikverket dates from 2003. Accordingly, the UIC concept aims to implement low cost infrastructure compatible with the running of ETCS trains. This applies for fitting low traffic infrastructure with the interlocking of circulation routes centralised in the Traffic Control Centre and with coverage of the route by the GSM-R. Switches in stations and level crossings are controlled and commanded from the TCC via Object Controllers linked to the TCC by radio (GPRS) and/or wired WAN. In principle no track-based train detection systems (track circuits or axle counters) are employed. Trains detect their location autonomously using onboard odometry and pre-programmed balises on the track. Train movements are controlled by Movement Authorities issued by the TCC. This eliminates the need for trackside signalling. Trains and locomotives equipped with the ETCS On-Board according to the interoperable SRS baseline 2.3.0d run on this ERTMS regional line. The system safety target is compliant with the high requirements of the Safety Authority in Sweden as regards the specific operational requirements set up by TRV and SJ.

In this way, the ERTMS regional infrastructure has the potential to reduce costs, as no track-based signalling or train detection is required and agents are not needed in stations. Only the shunting operations in stations are performed locally by the shunting team accompanying the freight train. The use of hand-held GRM-R terminals allows the shunting zone to be temporarily blocked for traffic and then re-opened once the shunting operations are ended. The same hand-held control system allows zones occupied by track workers to be protected. Swedish colleagues have stated that the cost saving due to the ERTMS regional infrastructure meets the target of 50% of the cost that would otherwise have been paid for a classic signalling system. The cost of the GSM-R is not included as it would have been installed in any case.

On 7 and 8 June 2011 Bombardier and TRV organised presentations of the concept, the technology implemented and the performance obtained for a group of specialists from UIC, RFF, ATOC, SBB and ADIF and industry representatives (AZD-Prague, Ansaldo-STS, GE-Transportation, Invensys-Rail, Alstom, Siemens and Thales). An ERA specialist was also present. Participants were invited on a trip onboard a test train. The event facilitated the intense exchange of viewpoints on the potential of ERTMS regional to satisfy the particular requirements of regional lines and to build on the foundations of the UIC concept infrastructure on which ETCS interoperable trains may run. The pilot project in Sweden and further implementations of ERTMS regional re-address the need for research on harmonised solutions for open issues such as train integrity with onboard solution and the use of moving block train spacing. Although the application of ETCS Level 3 is not officially specified, the avoidance of track-based train detection as applied on ERTMS regional could be considered to be a first step in the direction of future ETCS L3 implementation.

UIC strongly supports the rapid consolidation of the ERTMS regional concept when integrating the experience of the pilot in Sweden and is committed to act:

To revise and produce consolidated versions of the FRS, ORS and Technical Specifications of the concept. It has been observed that the ERTMS regional concept enables large flexibility in applications on low traffic lines, therefore the UIC specifications shall describe the baseline of the concept, the mandatory characteristics and constraints to be considered when addressing any intended implementation. In this context, the industry representatives were of the opinion that “too much flexibility and customisation” is not in favour of cost-effective supply and it would be opportune to optimise the “customisation”. This viewpoint should be also considered.

To use the experience of TRV and Bombardier to draw up a recommendation on generic testing, verification, and validation procedures specific to ERTMS regional. This recommendation should contribute to reducing the cost of testing and commissioning and speed up the process of bringing the application into commercial operation.

To address, in relation to the UIC/UNIFE collaboration, the opportunities to extend the supply of ERTMS regional and, in an optimised approach, to apply for FFFIS specification for some of the system interfaces. A TecRec approach can be employed as a pre-standardisation phase.

To organise working groups made up of railway specialists to finalise the UIC specifications by mid-2012. In this context, the Operation Focus Group shall organise specific work and carry over the final specification of operational requirements. Assistance to railways wishing to implement ERTMS regional may be governed by the bilateral agreements concluded between the IM or RU and the UIC Rail System Department. For this, railways should address UIC via the Director of the Rail System Department.

To organise a large-scale conference in order to promote the concept and offer the opportunity of a structured approach to optimise implementation.

The UIC representative would like to thank TRV and Bombardier for their efforts in implementing the concept and pioneering ETCS. The importance of the ERTMS regional application for the progress of ERTMS/ETCS is also underpinned by the organisation of the International ERTMS Conference in April 2012, in Borlänge, Sweden.

For more information please contact Teo Gradinariu: gradinariu@uic.org

7 June – International Press Conference “What else can be done to improve safety on rail-road level crossings?” in Warsaw, Poland

2011-06-15T12:20:53Z

At the invitation of PKP P.L.K. the press conference on the International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) together with an exhibition of ILCAD partners' communication tools took place on 7 June 2011 in Warsaw and coincided with the UIC statutory meetings hosted by PKP: http://www.ilcad.org/spip.php?article51 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY95KGbO45k&feature=youtu.be.

The international press conference was opened by Mr Robert Kuczyński – Spokesman of Investments Implementation Centre IRRP – PKP Polish Railway Lines Company who welcomed all participants and journalists. He was followed by four speakers: Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux – UIC Director General; Mr Andrzej Massel, Polish Ministry of Infrastructure; Mr Robert Nowak – Division of Transport, UNECE; and Ms Birgit Vahemets (Operation Lifesaver, O.L. Estonia) on behalf of Mr Tamo Vahemets (O.L. Estonia), Ms Helen Sramek (O.L. U.S.A., Mr Dan di Tota (O.L. Canada), Mr Lisandro López Piñeyro (O.L. Argentina).

At the beginning of the conference the UIC CEOs and journalists had the opportunity to watch the two main ILCAD videos used for the campaign: “Just in time”, financed by the European Commission in 2010 and available to all ILCAD partners for use on their websites and in public areas (screens in railway stations, on streets, on television, etc.) until 2015; and a montage of national CCTV footage of bad behaviour at level crossings submitted by ILCAD partners: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvmu7Ll22yE

“Amongst the biggest safety risks and concerns that railway companies have to face on a daily basis, is the risk at the interface between road and rail, to be found at level crossings. Fatalities at level crossings represent 30% of all fatalities involving railways and 1.7% of road fatalities for the 27 countries of the European Union. Despite the huge efforts of the entire railway community (railway companies and infrastructure managers) to reduce this risk, there are still far too many people dying or being severely injured in accidents at level crossings every day. This situation constitutes a permanent concern for railways, even if level crossings represent an easy way for people to cross the railway and are in principle completely safe if all safety rules, in particular the traffic rules for road users, are strictly followed. Actually it is very clear from the statistics that most of the accidents that occur at level crossings are caused by the inappropriate behaviour of road users, motorists, cyclists or pedestrians. Therefore accidents at level crossings cannot be handled essentially within the rail transport sector as a pure rail safety problem. It is definitively an issue that must be jointly addressed by all players involved at these transport infrastructure interfaces: railway companies and infrastructure managers, of course, but also public authorities in charge of road safety and public works, police forces, representatives of all road users (including pedestrians, school children, etc.) More than 40 countries joined ILCAD in 2011 including three newcomers: Croatia, Georgia and Ukraine. Other countries have developed their campaigns for this year and included additional partners or are designing an extended field of action. Among these are the U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel and almost all the countries in Europe, including Poland who hosts this conference this year.” Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director-General

“Level crossings represent a critical point in the transport infrastructure. Poland has over 16 000 level crossings, 10 500 of which do not have barriers or signals but instead have a Saint Andrew Cross. Accidents at level crossings can be very negatively reported by the media and therefore have a very negative impact on public opinion. An accident, a fatality is always very tragic. The railways, with other stakeholders, have to change this public perspective. In 2010 there were 290 accidents in Poland resulting in 53 fatalities and 56 injured people. Late in April 2011 an accident occurred between a lorry and a passenger train running at 110 km/h at a protected level crossing with barriers and signals on the railway line between Gdansk and Szczecin. As a result, four railway vehicles derailed, two people died and many of the train passengers were injured. This kind of accident may happen because of the inappropriate behaviour of road users for various reasons. This is why ILCAD is very useful for helping to change people's behaviour. PKP P.L.K. is making efforts to modernise, upgrade or eliminate level crossings. We know that this represents a huge investment in Poland: 5 to 20 million zlotys for each level crossing removed. Even with European financial support, the railways cannot remove all level crossings; a huge number of them will remain in Poland and we thus have to improve education and enforcement of road users to help them protect themselves at very critical level crossings. The Polish Ministry of Infrastructure thanks and supports UIC and all the partners taking part in this international initiative.” Andrzej Massel, Polish Ministry of Infrastructure

“More than one million people are killed and 15 million are injured or disabled in road crashes every year worldwide. In Europe alone 100 000 people are killed and 2 million are injured in road crashes each year. Why use the term “crash” instead of “accident”? Once the road traffic risks are known and preventable, one cannot speak about accidents. This distinction must be made as it is crucial for policy design and its implementation. In general the known and preventable risks are: speeding, badly designed or poorly maintained road infrastructure, use of unsafe vehicles, etc. The known and preventable inappropriate behaviour and causes of accidents at level crossings include: zigzagging between the half barriers, frustration at waiting for trains to pass, stopping on the tracks, failing to understand specific instructions for long vehicles, distraction, misjudging of speed and distance, poor understanding of road signs and signals, poor visibility of road signs, low perception of risks, and familiarity. Unless concerted action is taken, the road safety issue will remain an enormous global social, economic and health concern in the future. In many countries the media do not appear to pay sufficient attention to road safety. The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly was launched across the world on 11 May this year. The global plan for the decade includes road safety management, road infrastructure, safer vehicles and road user behaviour. Crashes, fatalities and injuries at level crossings will also be addressed. In this context, the UNECE which is the unique global intergovernmental body concerned with road safety supports ILCAD and will soon create a group of experts to work on enhancing safety at level crossings. I would like to encourage all interested stakeholders to participate and contribute to its work.” Robert Nowak, Division of Transport, UNECE

To watch the UNECE film made to launch the UNECE Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 go to http://live.unece.org/trans/roadsafe/wp1film.html

“The Operation Lifesaver inc. mother company created in the U.S.A. in 1972 (http://oli.org) now also exists in Canada, Argentina, Estonia, and soon in Israel. The mission of Operation Lifesaver is to end railway-related collisions, deaths and injuries. Their actions are concentrated on engineering, education and enforcement. O.L. is a direct partner to ILCAD in the countries mentioned above. Where Operation Lifesaver exists the number of collisions at level crossings has decreased dramatically: minus 84% in the U.S.A. On the occasion of ILCAD 2011, O.L. inc. launched an e-learning module for professional drivers on their website, in conjunction with AAR press conferences organised across the country. O.L. Canada has developed three websites: one for adults (www.OperationLifesaver.ca); one for children (www.OLKids.ca); and one for young adults between 14 and 24 (www.TrainToDrive.net). Since the creation of O.L. Canada in 1981 the number of collisions (where a train and motor vehicle collide) has fallen dramatically from 800 annually to approximately 200 in 2010. O.L. also exists in Buenos Aires in Argentina (Operación Salvavidas). This year they combined their efforts with ALAF (Association of Latin American Railways) and together showed the ILCAD video in public areas, on their website and also on national television channels, and distributed safety leaflets at level crossings and schools: http://operacionsalvavidas.com.ar/

On 19 November 2004 AS Eesti Raudtee (Estonian Raylway Ltd), Tamo Vahemets and Urve Miidla founded the non-profit organisation “Operation Lifesaver Estonia” (OLE) following the principles accepted by Operation Lifesaver Inc. Since its creation we have also experienced a high decrease in collisions: http://www.operationlifesaver.eu/ee/en/. ILCAD has been on our annual events calendar since 2009 and we participate actively in the campaign. The rapid development of ILCAD and its global nature are clear evidence that such a project is much needed. The effect of ILCAD is also proven by the fact that each year the list of activities conducted in different countries gets longer and longer. We organised a variety of activities for ILCAD in Estonia, among them a photography competition. We are very happy to be a partner in this international campaign aimed at educating people and saving lives.” Birgit Vahemets, O.L. Estonia on behalf of all Operation Lifesaver organisations worldwide

NB The official ILCAD logo and motto “Act safely at level crossings”, which exists in more than 20 languages, and the 2011 CTTV film montage were provided on a voluntary basis by O.L. Estonia and ILCAD partners are very grateful to them.

“In Poland we have more than 16 000 level crossings on a 19 000 km railway network, which means that the average distance between two level crossings is less than 1.2 km. 97% of accidents are caused by road users and this is why it is so important to make them aware of the dangers at level crossings. Since 2005 we have been promoting education campaigns in Poland and we are particularly proud to host the internationally recognised ILCAD 2011 in Warsaw. Our initiative has been structured under the auspices of Mr Andrzej Massel, the Polish Minister of Infrastructure, and has involved partner organisations such as the Police Headquarters, the Headquarters of Military Police and Border Patrol, National Road Transport Safety Board, Polish Scouting Organisation, a great number of national and regional TV and radio broadcasters, numerous editorial offices, public institutions, community organisations and private businesses. The “Safe rail-road level crossing…” campaign was recognised by PR establishments as one of the most interesting and professional awareness campaigns targeted at society as a whole. We consider the awareness campaign to be one method of influencing safety along with improving the technical aspects of rail-road level crossings, supervising the work of personnel responsible for railway traffic safety and taking initiative to advance legal issues regulating the problem of rail-road level crossings in Poland. I believe that the organisation of ILCAD by UIC is a very valuable initiative, providing great opportunities to share experiences and help to develop activities to save and protect human life and health. We have carefully observed the operations carried out by our colleagues from all over the world and have adapted some of them to our own circumstances. I also hope that Polish initiatives will one day become an inspiration and a benefit to others. I would like to thank all the participants and journalists present today and invite you to have a look at the exhibition next door showing the various communication tools used by ILCAD partners around the world. I also invite you to participate in the complementary events organised by PKP P.L.K. on 8 June in the afternoon and 9 June which is actually THE big day worldwide.” Zbigniew Szafrański – President of Management Board, PKP Polish Railway Lines Company

On 8 June 2011 the programme of events organised by PKP P.L.K. for CEOs and journalists in Warsaw city centre included (see pictures):

Impairment goggles – simulated effects of alcohol use
Vehicle roll-over simulator
Car crash simulator
Computer aided accident simulation device
Save and rescue actions
Demonstration of Polish Railway Police unit
Manoeuvring square, where guests can try driving special trolling vehicles

On 9 June 2011, ILCAD day, the programme of events organised by PKP P.L.K. for CEOs and journalists in Warsaw included (see pictures):

In the morning: a simulation of an accident on a rail-road level crossing at Zabraniecka Street in the suburbs of Warsaw, together with a press briefing with the three main national television channels and eight national and regional radio channels

In the afternoon: the opening of an exhibition devoted to LX safety problems

Public blood donation for accident casualties

Educational performance for children “Aban and safe LX” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehfkrA-pK0I&feature=youtu.be

Exhibition of the best Polish drawings submitted to the first UIC/ILCAD international drawing contest for children on level crossings. We received 380 drawings, of which 100 were Polish The 26 winners, of which six were Polish, in the four age categories will receive an official certificate and a prize from ILCAD/UIC. All contestants will receive a miniature Eiffel tower. Please visit http://www.ilcad.org/spip.php?article97 for more details.

To see our other global activities and projects please visit our facebook page: facebook.com/ilcad and twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ilcad and our website: www.ilcad.org.

More information on press conferences organised by partners, and videos posted on their websites or on youtube will be provided in due course.

“Next Station”, the 3rd international conference on railway stations organised by SNCB-Holding and UIC to be held on 17 and 18 March in Brussels

2011-01-25T09:30:28Z

Following the success of the previous editions in Rome (2005) and Paris (2007), SNCB Holding is organising ‘Next Station', the 3rd international conference on railway stations in close collaboration with the UIC.

This conference, which has become a worldwide reference for benchmarking and exchange of information and best practice on all strategic issues connected to the development and management of railway stations, will take place on 17-18 March 2011 in Brussels.

The programme, including round tables and workshops, will feature leading industry figures from around the world speaking on subjects of topical significance. Themes such as the station of the future, station operations, intermodality, the station in a business context – project development and financing – accessing trains and stations and new technologies for customers, and stations meeting the challenges of railway liberalisation, are the main issues that will be addressed over the two days. Highlights this year will include technical visits to two of Belgium's internationally-renowned railway stations: Antwerp Central and Liège-Guillemins.

“Next Station” is the definitive event for anyone involved in the station sector, representing the opportunity to learn about the latest developments in station management with regard to mobility in years to come.

Thehttp://www.nextstation2011.com conference website providing information on the conference programme, practical information, registration and payment, media contacts, etc., is now on online.

For more information, or to register, please consult: http://www.nextstation2011.com