The CBRNe4rail EU project, coordinated by the UIC Security Department, held its second Progress Meeting and Steering Committee on 11-13 May at the ENEA Research Centre in Frascati (Rome). Partners gathered in person to review achievements to date, validate key technical outputs and coordinate the next phase of work toward strengthening railway resilience against Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and explosive (CBRNe) threats.
The project is progressing steadily and on track
The Steering Committee confirmed that the project continues to advance according to plan. Two major technical reports were recently delivered by University of Lodz: State of the art review of CBRNe security in railways, providing the first consolidated picture of CBRNe preparedness in European railways, and On-site study visit methodology and report, summarising expert technical visits and interviews conducted at five partner railway stations.
A key finding emerging from this work is that stations are generally well prepared for conventional threats but insufficiently equipped and trained for CBRNe incidents, highlighting the importance of the project’s upcoming training programme and the future guideline for improvement of railway security level and response to CBRNe incidents.
Training curriculum was validated at the end-user workshop
Together with the progress meeting, a workshop was held to validate the CBRNe training curriculum by the project consortium and railway end-users. The curriculum was developed jointly by NBC School, SAFE and ENEA and builds on the EU RESIST project while adapting content to the specific needs of the rail sector.
The curriculum is designed as a one‑week intensive training for railway security staff and first responders and is composed of nine modules covering different aspects of CBRNe threats. SAFE also introduced the Virtual Reality (VR) training module, which will immerse trainees in a realistic CBRNe scenario set inside a virtual railway station, enabling safe and repeatable practice of decision‑making and response actions.
With this curriculum validated, the consortium now moves towards the implementation of the four training sessions, which will take place at the NBC School in Rieti between September and October 2026. Each session will gather around 15 rail stakeholders from Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Next steps - From training courses to implementation in field exercises
ENEA and other partners have also begun preparing the five in-situ exercises planned for the first half of 2027. These exercises will test the operational readiness of railway end-users and validate the tools, procedures and training developed throughout the project.
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