The UIC Excellence in Standardisation awards ceremony took place on 16 March as part of the Standardisation Conference. Only 30 minutes long, the ceremony was too short to hear the working group members’ reactions to theExcellence award granted to IRS 90930.
UIC Standardisation is pleased to print some of the written reactions to the award in this article.
Traction energy settlement experts, IRS 90930
Bart Van der Spiegel, Infrabel, co-author:
“It is nice that UIC acknowledges the importance of the work done in this working group by giving IRS 90930 an award in all four categories. The IRS 90930 group revised a leaflet that was already implemented in various countries but was in need of an update. The lack of maintenance in the original Leaflet 930 also resulted in different interpretations and thus international discussions on a wide range of topics relating to the various implementations. As investments have already been made, the new IRS 90930 is intended to enable a smooth transition, while also helping countries building new settlement systems for traction electricity. Due to this IRS, data doesn’t need to be converted to other protocols. The data format used to send the data from the train’s onboard energy measurement system to the ground can now be re-used for further communications on the ground. All of the relevant representative bodies have agreed to use the data formats agreed in IRS 90930 and have included this as a commitment in a sector declaration.”
Bjørn Lysne, BaneNOR, co-author:
“This is an award for the whole working group as a result of the good work we have done, so we enjoyed the ceremony and praise received.”
Daniel Svoboda, Správa železnic (SŽCZ), co-author:
“I am proud that we’ve managed to publish this IRS. Správa železnic, as an IM of Czech Railways, can now offer perfect services in traction measurement on board traction units because of information gathered during UIC meetings. It has opened up a whole new world for Czech railway infrastructure, and we are glad of the opportunity.”
Étienne Sourdille, SNCF Réseau, co-author:
“Management of cross-border traffic energy data for fair invoicing is important not only for the infrastructure manager, but also for the railway undertaking. It enables not only a smooth energy purchasing process, but also addresses the issue of energy saving across different countries. UIC Leaflet 930 provided a solution, but modernising the process was necessary, especially given the potential provided by evolving standards (such as EN 50463:2017) and technology. Therefore, I consider this IRS an excellent achievement given the level of dialogue involved, which enabled an excellent compromise and further improvement of comprehension among the participants.
The UIC award also recognises the outstanding work with all members as an achievement across the business and technical fields. I join UIC in thanking the working group for its work over the past two years (and more to come!). I am looking forward to successful continued work on this topic. It is a joint effort, meaningful and thorough, and I am pleased to see that this is recognised.”
Ben Winters, NS, co-author:
“As technology moves on, the corresponding standards and directives need upgrades, as did UIC Leaflet 930. I had the privilege to work on the development of IRS 90930 from different perspectives, consecutively representing a cooperation, a railway undertaking and an infrastructure manager. Parallel to the IRS project, I was responsible for the development and implementation of a new settlement system in the Netherlands. It was an excellent opportunity to leverage the best of the IRS project and the experience of the members.
With all the dialogue and discussions in the IRS group, the aim was always to reach consensus. This eventually resulted in a quality IRS, in line with the current situation in the field of energy metering, traction energy settlement and data exchange.”
Daniele Arena, project management for UIC and co-author:
“Being able to support UIC in the coordination of the two working groups dedicated to the development of IRS 90930 and IRS 90940 has been a challenging but also a very rewarding experience. This award is well-deserved for all the participating experts who have put their knowledge, passion and energy into creating shared solutions.”
Philippe Stefanos, UIC:
“Congratulations to the winners and thank you for the award. I am proud to have participated and to have served members in developing a solution that will serve the entire sector to reduce operational footprint and increase the efficiency of cross-border processes.”
UIC would also like to acknowledge the work of co-authors Darren Dang and Wojcech Czylok of DB, Eva Kozak of ÖBB, Thijs Assies of ProRail, Antoine Senia-Toullec and Rasha Khoury of SNCF, Raphaèle Caubel of RTE and Christian Moser of SBB.
