To kick off the events surrounding its 90th anniversary, UIC will hold an exhibition for its members and for the public at large, tracing the history of the railways and railway cooperation worldwide. Over 300 photos from the archives of railway networks and companies will be exhibited in the lobby of the UIC headquarters building until 22 December 2011.

The exhibition will be inaugurated tomorrow, Wednesday 7 December, by UIC Chairman Yoshio Ishida and UIC Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux in the company of many key figures from railway networks the world over. The exhibition will be based around four themes: men and women who have contributed to the history and success of the railways (sales personnel, drivers, ticket inspectors, pointsmen, technicians), rolling stock (from steam to high speed), infrastructure (lines, engineering structures, stations), and UIC’s contributions to international railway development, in particular to ensure global harmonisation.

The exhibition was only possible thanks to the contributions of UIC members, who will be able to host it, if they wish, following its initial period at UIC. The idea is for it to tour as many countries as possible during the course of 2012. A DVD has been specially produced for this purpose and will be sent to members on request.

As well as the photographic exhibition, a “souvenir” album containing over 700 photos of railway history has been published, a copy of which will be presented to each member.

More information and photos on the event will be published in the 270th issue of eNews at the end of the week

As part of international dialogue between France and Russia in the field of transport, a number of events were organised in 2011, and on Friday 2 December a special conference – dedicated to transport and a vision towards an integrated East-West transport market – was held under the aegis of Co-Presidents Vladimir Yakunin, CEO of RZD, and Thierry Desmarest, Honorary Chairman of Total.

On this occasion a panel discussion on rail transport moderated by Vladimir Yakunin and Anne-Marie Idrac gave UIC Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux the opportunity to present the results of the ICOMOD study coordinated by UIC, demonstrating the railways’ full potential to develop East-West rail links to meet increased freight flows. On the basis of this potential, significant work to improve both technical and administrative interoperability – already undertaken in part – has sparked the interest of the European Commission and is being carried out with UIC’s participation.

On 5 December Mr Mukul Mathur, Head of UIC India, participated in a high-level United Nations Centre for Regional Development conference on Environmentally Sustainable Transport held in New Delhi. Mr Mathur presented the rail sector’s key initiatives to improve performance on sustainable development, and noted the many ways in which UIC is helping members to do this. In addition, Indian Railways spoke about the environmental and sustainable development strategies for their company. The conference participation is part of UIC’s ongoing activity to promote railways as the official representative of our sector to the United Nations.

The UIC’s 8th World Congress on High-Speed Rail is the must-attend event to learn all about successful strategies, latest developments, best practices and innovative technologies in high-speed rail. UIC HIGHSPEED 2012 will take place in Philadelphia (USA) from 10-13 July 2012.

This is the leading global event for showcasing and exchanging views on the developments and achievements of high-speed rail worldwide, with an expected 1,500 participants from all continents. The world congress will feature international rail experts on transportation policy and technology. It will bring together both the public and private sectors to provide insight and best practices for implementing high-speed rail projects at every stage from planning, financing, and construction, to operations and management.

Call for Papers - World Congress

The organisers, UIC and APTA, invite you to participate in UIC HIGHSPEED 2012 by submitting an abstract of your work to be considered for a presentation in Philadelphia. The themes of the world congress are:

• Social environment, economy, finances
• Commercial
• Infrastructure
• Rolling stock
• Operations, safety, security
• Engineering and project management
• Corridors

Take a look at the detailed topics for technical issues. If you would like to submit an abstract of your presentation on one of the themes mentioned above, please send your abstract before 1 February 2012. The papers will be reviewed by the scientific committee. Find additional details and the submittal (format) requirements >here<.

For more information on the World Congress and to register, please visit our website: www.uic-highspeed2012.com

We are looking forward receiving your contribution!

On 29 and 30 November 2011 in Vienna, at the kind invitation of ÖBB, the ERIG (European Radio Implementation Group) celebrated its 50th meeting. The decision to create the ERIG was taken after several years of work on the EIRENE and MORANE projects, with a focus on specifications and initial steps towards implementation. In the early 90s the former UIC 7B10 group started to work on a study for safe future transition from analogue to digital radio. The main idea was to group all existing radio applications into a single frequency band and, in parallel, switch from analogue to digital while seeking useful technology for railways. A study was launched and two technologies examined: TETRA and GSM. The final decision was to switch to GSM, albeit with added functionalities to make it usable in the railway environment.

The ERIG is a Railway information and decision platform for GSM-R comprising all the European signatories of the UIC Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on railway support for GSM-R, drafted in 1997 and initially signed by 32 railways. It provides a platform where participants can discuss the problems they encounter, their solutions, opinions, ideas and experience regarding the implementation and use of GSM-R. Train operators are also encouraged to participate, and CER, EIM and ERA are invited to attend.

In addition to the discussions on technologies taking place within the group, part of the shared information becomes work material for the related UIC working groups: the Functional Group, Operators Group, ETSI TC-RT, Network Management Group and ERIN (European Railways Interconnection Group). Strategic decisions at European level are discussed with a view to agreement between those who will implement them. The GSM-R Industry Group is regularly invited to ERIG meetings, where it can present its issues and discuss matters directly “with the customer”.

ERIG meeting no.50 was attended by more than 30 participants. The two previous ERIG chairs, Messrs Mike Watkins and Klaus Konrad, had been invited to attend the last part of the meeting on the second day. The group discussed important issues on the present European GSM-R agenda. GSM-R frequency interferences originating from public operators are already a serious cause for concern and are becoming critical. Coordination between railways and public operators now has a basis: ECC Report 162, which is not legally binding. An action plan agreed on by UIC has been set up, a database of interference points has been created, and a study is being conducted on existing legislation - binding documents and technical reports. Version 2 of the UIC technical report has been drafted and a measurement test campaign to validate ECC Report 162 is being prepared. The ERIG has endorsed the ECC-UIC MoU on cooperation in the field of railway wireless applications, which is currently in the process of being signed.

EIRENE assessment vs. the TSI: following the UIC-ERA MoU on GSM-R, ERA wishes to divide today’s EIRENE mandatory requirements into those relevant to interoperability and those mandatory to ensure technical interworking in the system (not relevant for interoperability) according to principles set out in the TSI. EIRENE versions 7v2/15v2 are expected to be ready by March 2012. ERA promises that this very demanding work will lead to greater clarity and lower costs in the certification process. In addition reports were given on UIC activities such as the preparation for ERA of cab radio test cases required for certification following a contractual request, the GSM-R network assessment test cases and modifications of the EuroRadio FFFIS as requested by ERA. Another topic was the results of shunting demonstrations organised by the Finish Transport Agency; current issues and several potential forms of implementation had been studied and were presented. GSM-R shunting is crucial as the analogue frequencies must be made available by railways once the GSM-R network is in place, an issue which must be understood by authorities at all levels. A further demonstration is being prepared by SBB, to be completed by May 2012.

ERIG members gave their support to the UIC GSM-R project proposals for 2013-2015. Kapsch Carrier Comm, Frequents and the GSM-R Industry Group had the opportunity to discuss matters with the group. The next meeting is scheduled for 21-22 March 2012 in Portugal.

The UIC “Future Railways Telecommunication Systems” workshop took place in Vienna on 1 December 2011. It included around 50 registered participants - UIC members, including representatives of JR East, and representatives of the GSM-R Industry Group, Kapsch Carrier Comm, Nokia Siemens Networks, Sagem Comm, Selex, Siemens Mobility, Alcatel Lucent, Huawei Technologies and Mitsubishi Electric R&D Centre Europe.

The workshop ties in with UIC activities launched in 2009, when it was assumed that GSM and thus GSM-R were approaching their End-of-Life (EoL) after official notification given at the time by Nortel Networks of the arrival of new technologies for wireless broadband, namely Long Term Evolution (LTE). Together with DB Systel, UIC drafted a technical report published in September 2009 before launching a project in 2010.

In the course of the project it became evident that answers to issues such as LTE support for voice applications, GSM EoL, LTE longevity and LTE mobility behaviour in high speed conditions would be difficult to find. Consequently, as a first step UIC released the User Requirement Specifications agreed on by the ERIG, a document used as basis for discussions with suppliers and other organisations on introspection for the GSM-R inheritor. By December 2010 the conclusion was that the overall context and LTE maturity made such a decision premature. This does not mean that work is finished; it is ongoing as the assumption is that decisions will be required in the short term – some 4 years.

If the current trend persists, the issue is whether clouding QoS, security and intrusion need to be defined and whether a technology needs to be selected. The speakers in the meeting presented the latest technological developments, especially trackside but also on-board, and several solutions that would suit railway needs. Mitsubishi Electric R&D Centre Europe showed the results of CCTV simulation at 300 km/h.

In the user session discussions were held on different approaches, including SBB’s opinion on a faster decision moment.

UIC will respond to this demand by including future railway telecommunication systems as one of its main activities within the GSM-R Core Project as of 2012 and for the years to come. Work will focus on technological approaches, partnership with ETSI, and discussions with PMR world and UITP. European authorities will be continuously informed and, when necessary, involved in this work, where decisions and action are needed at European level as they were in the 90s.

Rail CEO’s announced last week the establishment of the first national rail safety Foundation, the trackSAFE Foundation, in Brisbane at the largest rail conference in Australasia, AusRAIL PLUS 2011.

The foundation will focus on four Key Areas: railway level crossing safety, trespass, suicide on the rail network, and the resultant trauma of these three factors on rail industry staff.

trackSAFE will pool industry funding, resources, knowledge and experience to take a holistic approach to rail safety in Australia.

Andy Summers, Chief Executive of UGL Infrastructure and Rail and Lance Hockridge, Managing Director & CEO of QR National and Chairman of the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) are announcing the establishment of the not-for-profit rail organisation.

Mr Hockridge welcomed the Foundation, saying it will drive behavioural change in the community and save lives of young people, motorists and pedestrians who take risks around railways.

“Unfortunately, every year people are tragically and needlessly killed at level crossings or when trespassing across railways. “As a community, this is unacceptable. The ARA is calling for a collective effort involving the rail industry, road authorities, and health and education experts to tackle the issues and develop strategies that will work. “The Foundation will also help rail industry employees who are impacted and traumatised by incidents on the rail network and become the silent victims in these tragedies.”

Mr Summers said “There has been a significant amount of progress improving key areas of rail safety over the last decade. “However, with over 30 fatalities and 1,000 near collisions just at level crossings each year there is undoubtedly more work to be done.”

First year activities of the foundation include: a targeted media campaign; the development of a rail safety education package to be implemented into the national curriculum; a rail network suicide prevention program in conjunction with LifeLine and beyondblue; and research into the best possible ways to alleviate and mitigate rail industry trauma. The trackSAFE Foundation will not take away from the effective state-based rail safety initiatives already in place, but rather build on these and spread best practice across the industry.

Today, rail CEOs will be asking players from across industry to come on board and make a commitment to the trackSAFE Foundation. The official trackSAFE Foundation Launch will take place at the annual Rail Safety Conference in Sydney in March 2012.

(Source: Australasian Railway Association)

The purpose of this campaign is because, when compared to other rail operational statistics, too many people die or are injured in accidents at level crossings. These however are in the majority of cases due to misuse by motorists and pedestrians, whilst the popular misconception is that these fatal accidents are a railway problem. Conferences on the issue show that the only really effective way to decrease the number of accidents, short of closing all level crossings, is education, highlighting the risks and making people aware of the potential consequences if they do not follow the simple rules of the road.

Running under the motto “Act safely at level crossings” the railway community, in conjunction with a small but rising number of road sector organisations as well as the European Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), has established the ILCAD campaign to raise awareness among road users and pedestrians of the risks at level crossings and to change their behaviour. More than 40 countries around the world have previously been engaged in ILCAD. You can join free of charge as all activity is on a purely collaborative basis.

Building on the successes of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 campaigns, the ILCAD 2012 (International Level Crossing Awareness Day) will focus on the principle date: 7 June 2012. In June 2012 we are aiming at even more partners, being able to reach an even wider audience of potential level crossing users. So join us and help the railway community to reduce this level of operational risk that we face at the interface with the road sector.

For more information on the past campaign please visit the dedicated website: http://www.ilcad.org

Or our social network pages:

• http://fr-fr.facebook.com/ilcad
• http://twitter.com/#!/ilcad
• the ILCAD Blog: http://www.ilcad.org/blog where news and information on the ILCAD partners will be published daily throughout December.
• https://www.facebook.com/2011.Ilcad...

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

The second annual meeting of the Expertise Development Platform, which took place at PKP HQ, Warsaw on 16 and 17 November 2011, was welcomed by Mrs Maria Wasiak, CEO of PKP, and Mr Andrzej Sojecki, PKP Human Resources Director.

One purpose of the meeting, attended by representatives from 10 countries, was to finalise the 2012-2013 work programme. Four activities will be the focus of the Expertise Development Platform over the next two years:

• Trainer development
• Benchmarking customer service
• Benchmarking in-company training programme (training of drivers for licence and certificate) and
• Preparation of the Second World Congress on Rail Training which will be organised in spring 2013

Another important reason for these platform meetings is to share rail training developments across the industry, as well as to get updated information with current international developments regarding the rail sector. Besides a presentation on currents trends for human resources and training activities across the PKP Group from Mr Andrzej Sojecki, PKP HRD, a session was dedicated to the current situation at participating training centres.

Olaf Mette from ERA (European Railway Agency) gave an update on the final outcome of training centres and the examiner recognition process, as well as ERA proposals regarding amendments on train drivers. The meeting was also the occasion for participants to learn from Anton Akulov, UIC Senior Advisor, about a new project to start in 2012: Network of Talented young railway professionals. Different railroads all over the world are conducting youth policies or youth programmes. These activities among railway companies clearly show the importance of such work and represent human capacity as a basis for sustainable development in the sector. Youth should serve as a catalyst for performance. International collaboration in particular is becoming increasingly significant due to the overall processes of globalisation and liberalisation. The main objective of the project is to promote railway transport through young railway staff, to establish platforms such as the International Railway Youth Board or others, which will help us to prepare railway managers who are well-qualified, internationally business-oriented, multilingual and with high motivation to achieve company goals. The project also aims to extend possibilities for the innovative development of railway transport and to improve its competitiveness in the transport services market through developing the professional competences of young railway staff, actively involving young employees in a process of solving strategic and current tasks for railway transport and making full use of their intellectual and innovative potential.

The meeting ended with the visit of IK (Railway Scientific and Technical Centre), formerly part of PKP (Polish State Railways), which since 1951 has been the leading railway research centre in Poland. IK is also getting more and more involved in railway training, hence its interest in taking part in the Expertise Development Platform’s activities. IK is a long-standing UIC member and participated recently in PROTECTRAIL and RESTRAIL – EU funded projects under the aegis of UIC.

The next meeting of the Platform is scheduled for 13 and 14 June 2012, at VR’s training centre in Finland.

As part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2010 between UIC and SWJTU (Southwest Jiaotong University) in Chengdu city, (Sichuan province) China, the UIC Expertise Development Unit organised a three-day training session at two SWJTU campuses from 23 – 25 November 2011.

SWJTU is a national multi-disciplinary university with a focus on engineering and rail transportation. With its 17 schools covering all railway disciplines, it counts as one of the leading railway universities in China, with approximately 50,000 students and three campuses measuring 5000 acres in total.

SWJTU is also a research-oriented university and endeavours to promote scientific and technological innovation, hence having been nominated three times among the “top 10 Science and Technology Advances of Higher Education in China” and having received a national award for scientific and technological progress.

The three-day international training session, partly financed by the Chinese Ministry of Education, is part of a three-year training programme. It addressed hundreds of students, the majority composed of undergraduates and, to a lesser extent, postgraduate students. UIC is uniquely placed to provide the relevant international technical expertise to fulfil the training mission.

The selected lectures for the first training sessions were drawn from UIC’s vast pool of expertise and represent current issues for railways worldwide. UIC was able to offer experts addressing the following issues: railway risk management, control command and signalling (CCS), developing and enhancing maintenance: presentation of the results of the INNOTRACK (Innovative Track Systems) project, MAGLEV (magnetic levitation), high speed systems – including a session dedicated to high speed safety/security, and e-business applications (collaborative electronic information exchange in the railway industry). The lecturers, who were selected from UIC, Italy (Trenitalia), France (SNCF) and Japan (Tokyo University), delivered presentations in two different locations, thus addressing several hundreds of students.

All of the lecturers addressed many questions raised by the students and were highly impressed by their enthusiasm and interest.

"Expertise Development at UIC – Learning for the future” is an updated flyer presenting the ongoing activities of the UIC Expertise Development Unit. If you wish to receive a copy or further information please contact: amirault@uic.org

On 1 December SNCF officially inaugurated two new stations on the Rhine-Rhône high speed line at Besançon Franche-Compté and Belfort Montbéliard, ahead of the launch of commercial services over the route on 11 December, set to link France’s north-east and south-east regions.

Gares & Connexions, the fifth and most recent of the SNCF business units, whose job is to renovate and develop the 3000 rail stations in the network and to implement station development projects and investment plans in collaboration with local authorities and stakeholders, has exploited the talent of its partners to improve the fundamentals of station service.

From the selection of materials to the refurbishment of internal and external spaces, furnishings, lighting and information, as well as access to and layout of other modes of transport and development sites, everything has been meticulously thought out to build welcoming, safe, comfortable stations that are closely connected with and lead directly to the town and surrounding localities.

Respect for the environment was also an aspect taken into consideration during the design phase. To highlight and reward this green initiative, a High Environmental Quality label has been awarded to the two stations, reflecting a commitment on the part of SNCF to adopt a long-term sustainable approach.

According to Sophie Boissard, Executive Director of Gares & Connexions, “environmental integration is not merely aesthetic but affects all the functions of these two sites: from energy production and management to services on offer in the station.” In addition to these two new stations, SNCF has also undertaken major renovation work on nine existing stations in the three main regions that will be served by the Rhine-Rhône high speed line.

(Source: SNCF)

In a country where women are under-represented in the technical professions, SBB (Swiss Railways) is offering them a tailored training programme and employment conditions facilitating access to careers as train drivers. It is through this scheme that SBB aims to replace the 1000 train drivers due to retire over the next decade. The company’s recruitment strategy is based on greater awareness of market reality: half the population seeking employment are women.

Further information can be found at www.cff.ch/mecanicienne-de-locomotive

(Source: SBB)