The CBRNe4rail project (CBRNe preparedness for passenger rail transport hubs), co-funded by the European Union Internal Security Fund (EU ISF), held its kick-off meeting on 4 June at UIC headquarters in Paris. Over the next two and a half years, the project will work towards increasing the railways’ preparedness and response to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and explosive (CBRNe) emergencies by improving security plans and training staff.

The project is coordinated by the UIC Security Department and is being implemented in partnership with four UIC members (PKP S.A., FS Security, Jernhusen and Prometni institut Ljubljana), several first responder organisations, specialised training centres and academia.

The kick-off meeting began with opening remarks from Ms. Marie-Hélène Bonneau, UIC Security Department Director, followed by an overview of the project presented by Dr. Grigore Havârneanu, Project Coordinator. Laurence Wathy, EU Project Officer from DG Home, then outlined the European Commission’s requirements and expectations for the initiative. Afterwards, the 30 participants, representing the 12 European consortium partners from 6 different EU Member States, introduced themselves. This included a formal address from the Mayor of Grosuplje (Slovenia), Dr. Peter Verlič.

The meeting was also an opportunity to take the first steps towards the co-creation of the railway CBRNe security concept. Representatives from the University of Lodz (Poland) presented a draft questionnaire and collected feedback from the rest of the consortium. Looking forward, expert visits to rail stations and targeted end-user workshops will be organised. By the end of the project, a harmonised and certified CBRNe rail sector training programme will be available to the rail community.

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