On Tuesday 19 June UIC made its final contribution to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 by hosting a high-level reception and launching a statement supporting railways and public transport.

Leaders at Rio+20 have a rare opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people and usher in a new era of sustainability. Two decades after the original Earth Summit, governments from across the world are reaffirming their commitment to sustainable development and pledging to kick-start a green economy.

The Rio+20 negotiations are considering transport within the context of cities and urban development. Therefore UIC, working with many partners, developed a joint statement and a series of events on the theme “Sustainable Transport in the Cities of the Future.

This reception was the fifth event UIC had participated in at Rio+20. The UIC work at Rio started with a speaking role at a Side Event on 14 June to discuss Financing Sustainable Transport. The following day, UIC led its own side event titled Sustainable Transport in the Cities of the Future. This event was the most popular transport event at the Rio+20 negotiations, attracting over 70 people in the audience with standing-room only in the conference room.

On Sunday 17 June UIC spoke at another Side Event organised in partnership with the EU to focus on the Voluntary Commitments that UIC and other transport organisations had made to promote sustainable development. The UIC voluntary committment was to continue to promote the UIC Declaration on Sustainable Development and Transport.

Monday 18 June saw UIC Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux make a presentation at the UN Global Summit on Mobility, on the topic of integrating railways with electric vehicles. This conference, organised as an official associated event by the UN, attracted an audience from around the world.

On Tuesday 19 June, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux was a panel speaker along with other high-level VIPs at a one-day conference for 80 participants entitled Sustainable Transport in the Cities of the Future, organised by UITP Latin America.

Concerning the involvement of UIC in this strategic issue of sustainable development he said:

“’Rio+20 is in fact an anniversary. And at the time of anniversaries we always look backwards in time and ask ourselves “what I have achieved?” and we look also forward in time and ask ourselves “What will I achieve?” Time is in fact the key to many of these answers. And time is also the key factor when thinking of railway developments. Because railway developments take a long time to achieve. A scale of time and a scale of investments which is beyond short-term profit and the paradox is that it needs to be started immediately. Immediately because rail can boost sustainable development, rail can create jobs, rail can answer the growing need of mobility between the cities and inside the cities which are growing faster than the achievements of the projects themselves. Two billion people will be moving into cities within the next 20 years. So there is a paradox. Rail development has a long-term development cycle but must be decided and financed quickly. This is the paradox for technicians of course but also for politicians and financial institutions of freight stakeholders. When we look back we’re lucky to see that our fathers of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century had made such decisions which are in many cases still in operation and beneficial for our societies and modern economies today. When we look forward let us just hope that our grandchildren will say the same of us. UIC has been proud to be part of many of the 28 events dedicated to transport issues in this Rio+20. UIC has been proud to represent the railway sector and all its members to demonstrate that sustainable development is really at the heart of the main preoccupations of all our Members for the benefits of customers and for the benefits of society at large.”

Finally, the evening of Tuesday 19 June saw UIC host with the support of EDLP, UIC member in Brazil, a high-level reception, with the support and partnership of UNIFE and UITP. In the online statement, the three associations are calling on all parties at Rio+20 to encourage strong international actions to endorse a modal shift towards rail and public transport.

UIC activities at UN conferences go back many years, including the famous Train to Copenhagen project in 2009, and launch of the UIC Declaration on Sustainable Development in May 2011, with an event at the UN in New York with Under-Secretary Sha Zukang.

The UIC work at Rio+20 will be followed up in October by the UIC Sustainability Conference 2012 in Venice, organised in partnership with FS.

For further information please see http://www.uic-environment.org/2012/

To download a copy of the joint statement, please visit: http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article2872

This seminar, which brought together over 80 people, was organised in collaboration with Tunisian Railways and UIC Africa. The aim was to share experiences in safety management practices at the various participating railways and to jointly establish a common approach to human factors.

The first session on safety management was moderated by Mr Mouldi Zouaoui (SNCFT). During the first part of the session, Mr Moha Khaddour presented ONCF’s new safety management system based on a proactive systems approach that encourages staff participation and formally commits all levels within the chain of command.

Subsequently, Mr Jean Télesphore Ella Nze from SETRAG highlighted the difficulties encountered by his network with regard to railway safety. To resolve these difficulties, a number of measures have been taken regarding the implementation of procedures and their monitoring, learning from incidents and feedback.

After that, Mr Mohamed Wely Salem from Mauritanian Railways informed participants of the recent developments that have taken place in railway safety. He added that virtually the entire railway crosses dunes and sand plains and, due to frequent wind, is constantly covered by sand. These exceptionally sandy conditions thus wear the railway track exceptionally quickly compared to the usual conditions experienced by other railways.

Finally, Mr Hani Hijab from Egyptian Railways highlighted the importance of his network and the fact that Egyptian National Railways is one the biggest organisations in Egypt and the Arab world. He informed participants that 95% of accidents result from human errors (ENR staff or passengers). This matter highlights the need to focus on human factors in order to find solutions.

To conclude, Anne-Lise Joly from SNCF addressed the central issues of railway interoperability as it relates to safety. She specified that interoperability helps maintain the current safety levels in the railway systems of each EU Member State by encouraging common rules to be drafted for all of them (TSIs, harmonised standards).

This first session concluded with a round table led by Mr Karim Ayache (SNCFT) on the prospects of developing railway safety in Africa. Before opening the floor to participants, Mr Peter Gerhardt (UIC) presented the activities conducted by the UIC Safety Unit in various areas: human factors, occupational health and safety, the safety database, level crossings, etc. Next, Mr George Emmanoulopoulos informed participants about the EuroMed regional transport project. He underlined the importance that the project gives to railway safety and to the experience shared across the Mediterranean region.

The second session of the seminar led by Mr Moha Khaddour (ONCF), and which focused on human, social and organisational factors (HSOF), opened with a presentation by Mrs Meryem Belhaj (UIC) on the consideration given to human factors in the area of safety. This presentation emphasised the approach to HSOF which consists in identifying and implementing the conditions likely to elicit a positive contribution from operators and the public towards safety. Integrating HSOF into safety management is to consider safety to be the result of everybody’s work: design, organisation, operation, audit and monitoring. Following this speech, Mr Mohamed Fethi presented the policy of consideration for human factors at ONCF. The presentation focused on several aspects. One of the most important is that changes of any kind must be anticipated in order to implement a suitable support plan.

Mr Jean-Marc Gibot from SETRAG (Gabon) pinpointed the specific characteristics of his network and the important role of the environment and the culture of individuals when taking into consideration human factors. He thus highlighted that attitudes towards risk are different: it should be addressed rather than avoided. In view of this, the remedial action taken focuses on the railway system as a whole and seeks to create “comfortable” conditions around operators that are likely to ensure that rules are complied with.

Mr Mourad Tazdait from Algerian Railways (SNTF) explained three types of accidents based on his network’s analysis and demonstrated their direct link to human factors (root cause). He explained to the attendees that to significantly improve safety, an extensive programme to modernise the network had been initiated. He added that a safety audit conducted by an outside body was planned in order to assess the network’s safety levels.

Following the presentations about the consideration of human factors in safety management, the second part of this session focused on occupational health and safety. Dr Faten Debbabi presented a study on the “Work conditions and the mental workload of drivers and SNCFT staff”. The aim of this work is firstly to describe the socio-occupational profile of traffic personnel and train drivers, and then to determine the risk factors for work-related stress and their effects on the psychological well-being of these individuals. Mr Benoît Joly then presented the INFRABEL study on stress at work. He underlined that the effects of stress can lead to illness and distress and can also compromise safety in the workplace and significantly harm an organisation’s performance. The cost for companies is also a crucial factor. The annual economic cost of work-related stress in Europe is estimated to be 20 billion euros.

In conclusion Mrs Meryem Belhaj (UIC) presented the different major working areas identified during the round table in the first session and during discussions held in the second session.

• 1st environmental strand: consideration must be given to climate change, significant population growth, technological developments and social and societal trends.

• 2nd strand: Create a platform for sharing experience based on the establishment of common values and a shared outlook for the region through, for example, organising events in collaboration with UIC Africa and its regional office, publishing a regional eNews for Africa in the future and organising training through the creation of a regional training centre for Africa.

• 3rd strand: the importance of human and social sciences in the area of safety

Through the strong support of its global working group on rail research, the International Rail Research Board (IRRB), and its Strategic Document, UIC has initiated the creation of a portal dedicated to rail research and innovation worldwide.

Since December 2011, both the UIC research team and communications department have therefore worked together to develop this portal which aims to provide all stakeholders involved in rail research worldwide with both assistance in their daily work as well as a means of communicating their activities and successes.

UIC will launch Railway Research on the occasion of the High Speed Conference in Philadelphia on 9 July. This portal will be dedicated to all research activities carried out by UIC and its members around the world as well as to all stakeholders involved in rail innovation. In particular, this portal will provide information about rail research events, news about developments in R&D, descriptions of the activities of IRRB and their members, as well as information on special events such as Transport Research Arena (TRA), World Congress on Railway Research (WCRR), etc. The portal is intended to be an active tool and represents a great incentive for all our members in contributing to create a real global network for researchers and reinforce the rail community around research and innovation.

In addition, this portal will be supported through the partnership agreement between UIC and RSSB. RSSB, a member of the IRRB, carries out a broad range of activities which support the rail industry in Great Britain including managing shared standards, gathering and analysing safety data intelligence, and managing and delivering research and national programmes. Since 2011, RSSB has developed a web tool called SPARK for the benefit of its members, to share and find key information on publications, research projects and their deliverables, test facilities and contacts of rail researchers and centres of expertise. The partnership agreement signed between UIC and RSSB will give new international scope to SPARK and will make SPARK the global rail research platform for sharing information with, as a first step, the contribution of all IRRB members.

The launch of Railway Research, including SPARK, and the partnership between UIC and RSSB offer an important opportunity for the rail innovation and research community to enable a more efficient use of resources, share ideas amongst the regions, avoid duplication, develop innovative solutions to problems and identify topics for future collaborative research. It represents a unique opportunity to strengthen the rail research community and think globally about the future of railways.

The Communications Department is pleased to inform you that the Media Library’s (“Mediacenter”) website is now open: http://mediacenter.uic.org

The UIC media library is a new tool for distributing and archiving multimedia documents (mainly photographs and videos) and is reserved for UIC members.

The media library, now operational, has been designed to receive photographs and videos from UIC members. Its aim is to highlight their most significant and recent achievements. The contributions provided by members – that are essential to the development of this new tool – will thus enable the existing collection to be enlarged.

The media library, which can be accessed from the UIC website (http://www.uic.org, by selecting “Information Search” from the “Products and Services” menu), aims to illustrate the various UIC communications materials using photos and videos reflecting the successes of UIC members in the areas of passenger transport, freight, rolling stock, stations, staff and technical installations, etc.

These photographs and videos can also be made available to UIC members upon request, with the agreement of the member concerned. UIC members need to formally specify if the use of their materials should be restricted to the UIC Communications Department or whether their photographic and audiovisual documents can be sent to other members.

A manual explaining how to upload the photographs and videos sent by UIC members – as well as a form on how to use the photographs and videos – are available on request from mediacenter@uic.org. This form should systemically accompany all the documents that members send to UIC.

There are currently over 1000 photos available on the site, over 700 of which relate to UIC-organised events (statutory meetings, high speed conferences, GRFC, publicity campaigns, etc.). Thanks to regular contributions from UIC members, the collection will be significantly enlarged.

The site offers various search modes: via a simple or advanced mode, or a classification system.

The photographs available to consult on the site are deliberately protected by a watermark in order to protect copyright infringements. You will only be able to access high-definition (non-watermarked) documents if you order them. This order will be validated by the administrator according to how you wish to use these documents.

Practical information:

• Media Library website: http://mediacenter.uic.org
• To obtain your username and password, you can: Sign up directly on the site by completing the online form or Email the administrator at the following address: mediacenter@uic.org
• To help you browse the Media Library site, an online users’ guide is available at the following address: http://mediacenter.uic.org/_custome...
• The terms and conditions of use of the multimedia documents (photographs and videos) on the site can be consulted at the following address: http://mediacenter.uic.org/_customer/en/license.html

Under the chairmanship of Ferdinand Schmidt, the members of the Freight Forum met in Paris on 12 June. Delegates from Europe and Asia had the opportunity to discuss a range of strategic and technical issues.

After a debrief by Mr Loubinoux on the outcome of the latest Statutory meetings, a free-ranging discussion took place on how to further improve the Forum’s output so as to better respond to members’ needs and to further help them face the challenges of rail freight.

High on the agenda featured the discussion on corridor structures led by Messrs Maier (BLS) and Hartkopf (DBSR). Regulation 913/2010 concerning a European rail network for competitive freight defines rules for the selection, organisation, management and the indicative investment planning for rail freight corridors. The regulation also defines a list of nine “initial corridors” to be worked on, with some of them to be established already by November 2013. With the implementation of the legislation in the coming years, and bearing in mind that in the structure as it is currently defined the RUs only enjoy a consultative role, RUs want to define a process to coordinate their message towards IMs. Mr Dörsch from DBSR presented the status of the Europe Train project which aims to speed up and improve, through testing, the development of LL brake blocks as a means for cost-effective noise reduction. Mr Dörsch informed the audience about the outcome of the project’s second interim report which takes into account 93,000 km. He also strongly stressed the importance of having support from Austria and Hungary to start the next loop.

Mr Cau, Senior Advisor in the Rail System team, informed the members of the work currently being undertaken by UIC on standardisation: reviewing the standards already in place, ensuring they are fit for purpose, identifying areas for improvement (IRS, ISO...). He also stressed the importance for all working bodies to continue to review the UIC leaflets for which they are responsible.

The Freight Forum had the pleasure to welcome Mr Brand, newly appointed General-Secretary of CIT and to hear about the status of CIT’s activities in the freight domain such as: CIM electronic consignment note, CIM/SMGS traffic, multimodality, relationships between carriers and substitute carriers, revision of COTIF 1999.

Finally the Freight Forum members were given the latest information about the upcoming Global Rail Freight Conference which is taking place in Tangier from 17 – 19 October 2012 and were invited to consult the dedicated website http://grfc.uic.org, which contains all the necessary information for planning conference participation.

The 10th International Freight Forwarders’ Day 2012 Conference was held on 31 May in Odessa, Ukraine. Over the years, the International Freight Forwarders’ Day has become an indisputable platform for sharing experience, discussing best practice and prospects of cooperation between the partners. The list of participants included international freight forwarders from CIS, EU, Asia and the Middle-East, CEOs of international transport organisations (FIATA, CIT, CLECAT, OSJD), as well as representatives of field ministries, state and local authorities. UIC also participated in this Conference with the presence of Mr Miklos Kopp, UIC Director for Freight.

The agenda of the International Freight Forwarders’ Day envisaged the following discussions:

• Intermodal transport: Black Sea-Baltic Sea-Caspian Sea and West-East (Europe-Asia) routes;
• Trade facilitation. Transport and customs control measures;
• Vocational training for international freight forwarders. FIATA’s new vocational training standards and new solutions.

On 14 June 2012 the EuropeTrain returned to Minden after 2 weeks and ca. 12,000 km of successful operation in France.

The “Europe Train” test train, which has been travelling across Europe since December 2010 to test low-noise brakes – equipped with composite “LL” brake blocks” – before it goes into series production to retrofit the existing European freight wagon fleet, has completed its fourteenth run through France. The previous run in May took the train through France with a short trip to Luxembourg.

“Europe Train” is a project managed by UIC on behalf of the international railway community. To date, 29 railway companies, four industry suppliers and the sector organisations UIC, CER and EIM have signed the resolution for the preparation of “Europe Train”. This UIC project is managed by Mr Johannes Gräber from Deutsche Bahn.

After the train left the DB Systemtechnik test centre in Minden on 28 May, it travelled to Bad Bentheim, crossed the Netherlands and Belgium and finally crossed the French border at Quevy on 29 May on its way to Paris Le Bourget. During the French Loop the EuropeTrain travelled several times from its temporary home base in Paris Le Bourget to Lyon (7x), to Metz (1x) and to Marseille (1x). The return this time took the train via Metz and Thionville to Luxembourg for a local press event on 12 June, which was very successful.

(see more on http://europetrain.uic.org/spip.php?page=news).

On 13 June the train returned again via Belgium and the Netherlands to Minden.

Directly after the return, the measurements of wheels and brake blocks were taken as usual. Before the next run, the EuropeTrain’s International Analysis Team (IAT) will discuss the results again, define further activities and in particular decide which wagons will participate in the next run, which will be the second and last Italian Loop, starting 7 July 2012.

The UIC Security Platform’s “Metal Theft” Working Group, chaired by Mr Christian Fortier, SNCF, and vice-chaired by Mr Miroslav Zeman, ZSR (the Slovak infrastructure manager), held its second meeting on 11 June 2012 at UIC HQ in Paris.

At the meeting, the French Gendarmerie gave a keynote presentation on the need to preserve evidence in the event of infrastructure being attacked or vandalised, or cables and other metals being stolen, and how the evidence of such events can be conserved. The need to reopen installations to service as soon as possible must not interfere with the requirements of the police, gendarmerie or other parties involved in preparing judicial proceedings in instances where prosecution of the culprits is possible. The training received by the technical railway staff accessing these sites in the immediate aftermath of an incident must therefore include an understanding of the requirements of subsequent judicial investigations. This presentation followed on from that given to the working group’s previous meeting on the organisational setups and motives of the organised international criminal gangs which derive significant illegal revenue from the theft of copper and other railway metals.

Based on some significant work by Network Rail (Mr Peter Guy), the working group decided to define its precise mandate, which will then be validated at its next meeting, to be held around the same time as the UIC World Security Congress in Bratislava from 24 - 26 October 2012.

On behalf of the Indian Railways – Railway Protection Force, Mr Ray highlighted the global nature of the problem.

In addition, the UIC Security Division and the CER Infrastructure Interest Group are to urge the European Commission to act on the issue of metal theft, highlighting the need for a more coordinated European response on the subject.

Lastly, the working group examined two technical solutions put forward by suppliers, one an anchoring system for underground cables helping deter thieves from trying to steal them; the other an electronic, computer-based system providing more precise, real-time information on the date and location of interference with certain cables. This allows thefts to be detected prior to a train passing through the affected site, with the associated consequences on traffic safety and punctuality.

The working group remains open to any other UIC members wishing to participate, and will meet again for the next time in Bratislava either during or alongside the Security Congress in October 2012.

The First RESTRAIL Info Day was held in Paris on 13 June 2012.

Around 50 participants attended this meeting. The objective was to provide the members of the project’s advisory group with RESTRAIL’s preliminary results.

After a general presentation by Jacques Colliard from UIC, the project coordinator, Anne Silla from VTT in Finland presented the first results of the data analysis on suicide and trespass on railways properties. Then Maria Hedqvist from Trafikverket in Sweden presented the methodology developed for the assessment of the measures to prevent trespass and suicide. Gilad Rafaeli from MTRS3 in Israel and Hannan Saltzman from NICE in Israel presented information system solutions to better manage the consequences of these accidents and especially to reduce the shut down time that these accidents lead to.

It was also the opportunity to obtain information from some members of the advisory board who presented their work related to trespass and suicide. Aleksandra Perkuszewska from ERA (European Rail Agency) underlined ERA’s keen interest in RESTRAIL’s results. John Laene from RAIPOL presented the Network of RAILway POLice organisations which is very keen on exchanging knowledge and best practice to improve cooperation between railway and police for the prevention and mitigation of consequences of suicide and trespass. Then Chandra Shekkar Ray from the Railway Protection force in India presented the various measures that have been implemented to prevent these accidents which are a main issue in India. It was also very interesting to learn more about all the work focussed on prevention and postvention which are undertaken in the UK by the Samaritans organisation represented by Sophie Lapham, in partnership with Network Rail, represented by Mike Carr. Lastly, Ulrich Hegerl from the University of Leipzig presented the results of the European Commission funded project OSPI, whose goal is to provide EU members with an evidence-based prevention concept for suicidality. He gave an outlook of cooperation with Deutsche Bahn on programmes targeting depression within the company, cooperation to prevent railway suicides e.g. to prevent the “Werther” effect and provide support for regional alliances against depression.

To conclude this meeting, several ways of sharing best practice and knowledge with the advisory group during the of the project’s whole lifecycle were proposed: workshops, questionnaires, sharing of documents in the RESTRAIL private workspace and regular information through newsletters and conferences.

The involvement of the advisory board, which is composed of a wide range of relevant professional expert knowledge in the areas of human science and health, law enforcement, education and social services, rail, is an essential feature of RESTRAIL in order to ensure that the project output is both well informed and of practical use to all who can be involved in the subject of suicide and trespass.

For further information on the RESTRAIL project, please consult the website: www.restrail.eu

All the presentations given are available in the RESTRAIL private workspace at

http://ovidentia.uic.org/index.php?tg=fileman&idx=list&id=329&gr=Y&path=RESTRAIL%2FRESTRAIL+Advisory+Board%2F2012-06-13+-+Info+Day+-+Paris+UIC

The Steering Committee met on 12 June 2012 at UIC, and was chaired by Mr Moha Khaddour, ONCF, UIC Security Platform Chairman and Mr Lubomir Hradisky, Vice-Chairman.

The meeting was an opportunity to welcome Mr Chandar Shekhar Ray, Indian Railways – Railway Protection Force, who is to be proposed as the new Security Platform Vice-Chairman at the next UIC General Assembly, since Mr Khaddour’s term is due to end and Mr Hradisky will take over as chairman. Mr Ray presented the security issues confronting the Indian Railways and the resources deployed to counter them. He confirmed Indian Railways’ commitment to the platform at various levels (working groups, steering committees, congresses) and proposed that a UIC – Indian Railways security event could be held in spring 2013.

Mr Didier Schwartz, SNCF Security Director and Chairman of the Colpofer Special Group since his appointment to the post on 2 May 2012 at the 56th Colpofer conference in Riga, confirmed his desire to boost coordination and joint working with the Security Platform in the interest of members: the internal regulations of Colpofer and those of the Security Platform will be reviewed with this in mind and amended where necessary in advance of the UIC General Assembly in December 2012.

On behalf of the Coordinating Council for Transsiberian Transportation, Ms Natalia Stepanova confirmed her willingness to cooperate with the Security Platform and its working groups as per the Memorandum of Cooperation between CCTT and UIC signed on 28 March 2012 (Mr Bessonov, Mr Loubinoux). A security cooperation kick-off meeting will be held between now and the end of 2012 in Moscow in order to define the arrangements for this new cooperative venture.

Lastly, the steering committee began official preparations for the 8th World Security Congress, which will be held in Bratislava (Slovakia) from 24 - 26 October 2012, and which will be organised by UIC and the Slovak railways ZSSK, with support from ZSR (the Slovak infrastructure manager) and ZSSK Cargo. The central topic for the congress will be “Security and human factors”:

• Before security incidents: training, awareness, impact of the use of new technologies, threats and risk assessment, etc.
• During: staff roles and responses, managing passengers, communication and crisis management, etc.
• After: reporting/lessons learned, changes to organisational arrangements, etc.

Parallel sessions and meetings of working groups or other bodies addressing railway security issues may be held during or alongside the congress. The official invitations and call for papers will be issued between now and the end of June 2012.

The UIC Finance Committee, attended by over 21 members, met on 14 June together with its Chairman Mr T. Joindot (SNCF), and finance directors and accounts specialists representing railway companies from several countries (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Morocco, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Switzerland).

This annual meeting was an opportunity to obtain information from members on the work conducted by the various working groups on passenger and freight revenue accounts, tax and statistical issues, and auditing of passenger revenues in the light of the problems encountered by UIC members, solutions put forward in view of past experience and analysis of the difficulties.

This year the specific presentations focused on:

• Comparison between the tax charges levied on rail and air transport (road transport also benefiting from more favourable conditions)
• Centralised system of monitoring information related to freight transport by rail
• Preparation by all stakeholders in the passenger sector of the forthcoming TAP TSI

The finance directors present at the meeting expressed their satisfaction on the topics presented and wish to anticipate the changes in the economic railway context.

Following the Finance Committee, the General Assembly of the BCC (Brussels Clearing House) for financial operations was held, which brings together some 50 members and deals with close to 5 billion euros a year in financial flows.

The GA approved the BCC’s accounts for 2011 and the suggested changes to the rules of procedure in order to improve response times and thus protect creditors with regard to debtors in arrears.

On the occasion of the GA, a presentation delivered by Mr Fleischer from Eurofima (financing of railway rolling stock) outlined some ways in which Eurofima can shield itself and those benefiting from Eurofima funding from the ongoing financial and sovereign debt crises and their consequences.

On the afternoon of 14 June 2012, several members who were present for the Finance Committee met in order to resume work on the subject of debt among the railways. The meeting was attended by debtors and creditors from around 15 European member railways.

The group is tasked with analysing the various cases of long-term debtors, finding bilateral solutions to improve the situation of long-term debtors, and suggesting that the issue of debt be addressed multilaterally, with repayment plans and harmonised conditions for interest on late payments, compliant with Leaflet 311 (which governs financial relations between UIC railway members).

This meeting reviewed the debt situation between member railways and the need was felt to distinguish two separate periods:

• The period from 1995 – 2005, which bears the consequences of the Yugoslav conflict, and the long and significant disruptions to railway transport in the region with damage or blocked access to transport infrastructure in the area.
• The period since 2006 where late payments are mainly related to difficulties experienced by certain members, and aggravated by the recent financial crisis and the economic slowdown which affects transport.

The problems of tackling the issue of debt are hindered by the restructuring of companies into several entities and sometimes the privatisation of the entities created. It therefore becomes very difficult to find the successor guarantor on any debt.

The method presented by Mrs Lim to take up the issue consists in:

• Establishing an accurate assessment of the amounts in question,
• Determining the reasons for the non-payment of previous reimbursement plans signed but subsequently not adhered to,
• Finding the right successor of the participating companies to confirm payment commitments.

A meeting is planned in September to provide an update of the survey regarding the approval of the outstanding balance on the current accounts of the two parties in order to determine the principal amount of debt. The latter represents a total amount of around 50 million euros, predominantly owed by Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania.

All the members deplore the outstanding debt and the fact that no contact can be arranged with Albania. UIC will make the case for expelling Albania at the next General Assembly.

Forum Train Europe (FTE) has appointed a new Chairman. Stephan Pfuhl, aged 45, and Head of Long-Distance Services for the SBB Passenger Division, was chosen to head the FTE association in a vote held at the plenary meeting on 30 May 2012. He will be succeeding Hans-Jürg Spillmann, also former Strategy Director at UIC HQ in Paris, who, having served as Chairman of FTE since 2003, stepped down from the post on 31 May 2012.

Stephan Pfuhl intends to strengthen FTE’s role as a European coordination platform by implementing efficient planning processes in the international rail environment. He will also continue to cultivate and develop important and prosperous relationships with partner organisations.

FTE, which has some 100 members across 34 European countries, serves as a coordination platform for railway undertakings and service companies. Its purpose is to harmonise international production plans and train path requests for cross-border passenger and freight transport by rail.

(Source: FTE)

In her capacity as member of the Bundestag, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave the signal for the departure of the first regular train ferry service between Sassnitz, the German Baltic port located on Rügen Island, to Ust Luga, the new deep-water port in Russia. This ferry route is dedicated to freight traffic.

The inauguration of the train ferry serbice was attended by Russian Railways (RZD) President Vladimir Yakunin, Deutsche Bahn CEO Dr Rüdiger Grube and Minister of Energy, Infrastructure and State Development in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mr Volker Schlotmann.

According to Angela Merkel, “effective transport links and a modern logistics system constitute important drivers for economic development. I am delighted at the establishment of this new regular train ferry service between Germany and Russia. This brings our two countries closer together economically.” In the words of Dr Rüdiger Grube, “this new link will provide DB Schenker with new opportunities to offer competitive transport services. The winners are not only our customers but also the environment.”

On its first trip on the Sassnitz-Ust Luga line, the ferry delivered to Sassnitz 49 RZD railcars, laden with chemicals. A five-unit train (EMU Desiro RUS) was also rolled on to the ferry bound for Russia.

(Source: DB)

The first yearly meeting of the UIC Expertise Development Platform (EDP), which took place at the VR training centre, Finland on 13 and 14 June 2012, brought together training executives/representatives from 15 different rail training centres/institutions. One part of the meeting was dedicated to the work progress in the activities which form the focus of the Expertise Development Platform over the next two years:

• Trainer development
• Benchmarking customer service training
• 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 St-Pölten/Vienna from 24 – 26 April 2013.

Information about the submission of abstracts (deadline 10 September) and procedures for sponsorship are available at the following address: http://www.uic.org/spip.php?rubrique2052

Another important purpose of the EDP meetings for the attendees is to share rail training developments across the industry, as well as to get updated information on current international developments regarding the rail sector.

Part of the meeting was dedicated to the presentation of the VR training centre and its activities. It was the opportunity for attendees to exchange experiences, ideas and good practice around topics such as driver training with simulation, traffic controller training with simulation, as well as conductor training, with a presentation of an innovative online experience of a learning diary.

Besides the demonstrations at the VR training centre, a technical visit was organised to the national and southern rail traffic control centres close to Helsinki. Some time was also devoted to a round table update on the current situation at participating training centres.

As regards current international developments in the rail sector, presentations were given by ERA (European Railway Agency), TCDD (Turkish Railways), and UIC. The representative from ERA gave an update on ERA’s staff-related activities. TCDD representatives presented the standards they developed in the frame of EQF (European Qualification Framework) and work related to Directive 2007/59/EC.

Finally, the delegates were also updated on the latest worldwide developments at UIC, including the main developments in the Expertise Development Unit.

An important decision was adopted by RAME (UIC Regional Assembly for the Middle-East) members in the field of training with the creation of the “UIC Middle-East Railway Training Centre” (MERTCe) at the initiative of TCDD and UIC. The objectives are described in a message from Mr Karaman, President of Turkish Railways and Chairman of RAME as follows: “MERTCe is designed to create a solution to the training needs of railways that are emerging due to rapid developments in our region. It is envisaged that MERTCe will make contributions to the creation of a common railway area in the Middle-East in the me¬dium- and long-term and to the provision of interoperability via train¬ing and education”.

MERTCe will be managed by TCDD, in close cooperation with UIC, and will be based at TCDD’s Rail Training Centre in Eskisehir, Turkey. A second important new activity for the Expertise Development Platform will be the management of a new global project dedicated to a “Network of talented young railway professionals”. The project should start in 2013.

The next meeting of the Platform is scheduled on 3 and 4 December 2012, at the TCDD training centre in Eskisehir, Turkey, where the new UIC Middle-East Railway Training Centre has been recently created.

For further information on the activity, please consult: www.railtraining.org

TransForm, California’s largest transportation nonprofit, has released a report supporting California High-Speed Rail and urging the Legislature to immediately approve funding for the project.

“The project is now designed to serve as the backbone of a statewide rail network, rather than an isolated system,” stated TransForm’s report. “It supports early upgrades to Caltrain and Metrolink as well as lines now used by Amtrak and ACE, allowing those systems to go faster and attract more riders. Millions of Californians will benefit from these first investments by 2018. These upgrades will also serve to make those corridors more ready for full high-speed rail. It is a strong plan and sound blueprint for moving forward.”

Access the TransForm report’s executive summary by clicking: http://transformca.org/files/executive_summary_document_june_13.pdf

As of 2025 at the latest, trains operated by Swiss Railways (SBB) will use electricity from 100% renewable energy sources. Today, the share of sustainable energy comes to 75%. The current share of nuclear energy will be reduced and its reduction compensated for by a whole host of energy-saving measures. In addition, SBB will cover any increase in need exclusively with sustainable energy. SBB will upgrade its hydro-electric power plants, buy more renewable energy and optimise its network of traction current.

Thanks to these measures, SBB supports the Swiss Confederation’s 2050 energy strategy by increasing energy efficiency, improving the security of the country’s energy supply by upgrading its hydro-electric power plants and contributing to the supply of renewable energy. Thanks to the expanding range of railway services that will be made possible by the increase in energy efficiency, SBB will reduce Switzerland’s CO2 emissions and energy consumption. Those who travel by train rather than by car consume four times less energy and produce 20 times less CO2. SBB carries 17% of Switzerland’s passenger traffic and 38% of its freight traffic using only 4% of the energy consumed by the whole of the transport sector.

(Source: SBB)

Since 13 June 2012, Mr. Ştefan Roşeanu is the new General Manager of CFR Calatori – the national railway passenger transport operator in Romania. Ştefan Roşeanu is co-founder of Club Feroviar, an organisation which supports and promotes public rail transport both nationally and internationally. He is also part of the work group “Rail Strategy Platform” summoned by the Vice President of the European Commission, Siim Kallas, a group set up to debate the problems of the European railway sector and to advise the Vice President in view of the railway sector reform in the coming years.

Within AIF and next to other four organisations in Romania, Ştefan Roşeanu is one of the initiators of the “Romanian Railway Platform 2020”, launched in 2011 and of the Romanian Pro Rail Alliance.

In 2009, Roşeanu was a member of the Private Government. Set up in September 2008, the work group which includes over 150 top managers, advisors and representatives of the civil society is a complex exercise of consulting the Romanian business environment on the country’s economic priorities.

UIC warmly congratulates Mr Roşeanu on his appointment.

(Source: CFR Calatori)

Moldovan Railways (CFM) has presented the new refurbished multiple-unit for which only 20% of its initial components have been preserved, the rest of the spare parts being replaced.

Necessary equipments have been supplied from Italy, Great Britain and Germany, while the design and assembly were made in Romania. The multiple-unit will be operated on the route Bender – Ocniţa. The vehicle with four cars, one for first class and the other for second and third class, has been upgraded following the conclusion of an agreement between CFM and Romanian company Remar Paşcani.

“The contract is part of a framework agreement on the modernisation of another 14 vehicles to be delivered in two tranches, 5 and then 9 trains. The contract signed with the Romanian company is valued at EUR 2.2 Million and represents half the cost, because the contract stipulates that CFM will cover this sum and the rest is supported by Remar Paşcani. For us, this project is one of the important steps we have to take in modernising and promoting railway transport”, declared Vitalie Struna, General Manager of the Moldovan Railways during the launch of the multiple-unit, an event included in the Moldovan Railway Summit (June 7-8, Chisinau), organised by Moldovan Railways and Club Feroviar. The event has been attended by representatives of the European Union and of the international financing institutions.

The multiple-unit has a capacity of 267 seats and is equipped with information and security systems, air-conditioning, modern seats and facilities for disabled people.

“It took two months to develop the project. The vehicle has a life expectancy of 20 years, it is reliable and has an anti-corrosion coating capable to resist 20 years. Command is automatic and the multiple-unit benefits from information and security systems. As regards the price of this vehicle, I can say that it is lower than that of European competitors”, declared Cristea Iulian, the Technical Director of Remar Paşcani.

(Source: Railway Insider)