On 28 March 2024, 165 representatives from the African railway community from all four corners of the continent attended a webinar on rail security management. This was organised as part of the UIC Africa Security Task Force initiative set up for the UIC Africa Region.

Said Chandid, UIC Representative in the Regional Office in Rabat, said in the opening speech that rail security in Africa is suffering from a lack of development and that there were still obstacles to overcome. He noted that the Africa Security Task Force would assure the adoption of a strategy in line with all task force stakeholders.

Christian Chavanel, the UIC Rail System Director and Coordinator of the Africa Region, noted that security was one of the priorities of the UIC Africa Region’s work, together with safety, rolling stock and digitalisation. The task force also addressed the topics of innovation in security and crisis management among others.

Marie-Hélène Bonneau, Head of the UIC Security Division, led the webinar. The focus was on rail security management in scenarios where security threats ranged from vandalism, theft from passengers or of rail assets (e.g. metal theft) to more serious offenses such as violence, armed assault or sabotage, all of which are an increasing concern for railways.

UIC team members presented the tools and activities available at UIC to help security experts to better manage their security issues, which includes the UIC Rail Security Hub, the new one-stop solution for railway professionals around the world.

UIC Members from the Moroccan National Railway Office (ONCF), Cameroon Railways (CAMRAIL) and the Transgabonese Railway Undertaking (SETRAG) gave an overview on the main security challenges they were facing. These presentations were followed by an overview of the railway security organisational model, with highlights from the related survey conducted by UIC. There were also presentations from Polish State Railways (PKP) and Italian State Railways (FS).