On 25 and 26 May, ZSSK Cargo hosted over 35 stakeholders at the 70th joint UIC/OSJD meeting on ‘Coding and IT’ in Poprad, Slovak Republic. The joint group manages over 30 commonly published UIC and OSJD leaflets providing the basis for standardised data exchange between stakeholders in both EU and CIS countries.

The harmonisation work of the joint group is becoming increasingly important, given the differences in legal regimes and underlying standards applied in the OSJD (CIS) countries and those in the EU. This is particularly important for those railways that are subject to both OSJD and EU legal regimes. The meeting was attended by UIC/OSJD member companies PLK/PKP, Rail Cargo Hungaria, CD, ZSSK Cargo, LDZ, DB Cargo, RZD and others.

For this reason, the Joint Group sponsored a one-day workshop on the implementation of the TAF and TAP TSI, chaired by John Lutz of the UIC. The workshop explored various subjects related to harmonisation activities needed for compliance with the EU Regulations and equivalent data exchange required in OSJD member countries. The workshop also drew attendance from service providers and stakeholders concerned with the TAF and TAP TSI, such as HitRail, Raildata, Oltis Group, SIGIS, ERA, CER and others.

The following subject areas were specifically addressed:

• The need for further analysis of consignment note data that can comply with the requirements of both the CIM (EU) and SMGS (CIS) implementations within the legal and regulatory context of both regimes.
• The implementation of the Location Reference Data within the context of the TAF and TAP TSIs and its impacts with cross-border data exchange.
• The current state of play for implementation of the TAF and TAP TSI in joint EU and OSJD countries.
• Shipment visibility solutions for East-West traffic.

The joint meeting on ‘Coding and IT’ was chaired by Mr Peter Ihnat of ZSSK Cargo. In conclusion, the members present at the meeting successfully validated the need to work on projects proposed for 2016-2017 in order to update four joint UIC/OSJD leaflets and to further study requirements from both regimes. The resulting impact analysis should allow future interoperability of data exchange standards and assuring legal compliance for both regimes.

Mr Attla Kiss, Executive Director of the OSJD, thanked the participants for their contributions and for 70 years of successful collaboration between the UIC and OSJD in achieving harmonisation for data exchange. He also warmly thanked ZSSK Cargo for the fine organisation.