The UIC European Management Committee (EMC) met in Berlin on 21 September 2026, on the eve of InnoTrans, for its first meeting chaired by Gianpiero Strisciuglio, CEO and General Manager of FS Italiane and newly appointed Chair of the UIC European Region and Vice-Chair of UIC. The meeting brought together European railway leaders with UIC Director General François Davenne and UIC Europe Director Sandra Géhénot, and also welcomed for the first time Yuji Fukasawa, Chairman of East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Chair of UIC for the 2026 – 2027 term.
Opening the meeting, Mr Strisciuglio thanked members for their confidence and set out the direction for his chairmanship of the European Region. He stressed his intention to keep the EMC focused on a limited number of strategic priorities and increasingly oriented towards concrete action. In his dual role as Chair of the European Region and UIC Vice-Chair, he also emphasised the importance of strengthening cross-regional exchange, enabling successful ideas, expertise and practical solutions developed in one UIC region to contribute to progress in others.
The meeting also marked changes in the composition of the Committee. David Van de Sype, Chief Operating Officer of Infrabel, joined the EMC as a new member in the UIC/EIM category, bringing extensive operational and technical experience in areas including railway safety, infrastructure operations, ETCS and interoperability. Alain Quinet, Deputy Managing Director of SNCF Réseau and newly elected President of EIM, joined the Committee as an observer.
Against this renewed governance framework, the EMC concentrated on a limited number of system-critical priorities for European rail: the FRMCS roadmap; capacity and operations capabilities; semantic interoperability and ontologies; and ticketing. The common thread across these topics is how the sector can manage technological, operational and regulatory transformation while making better use of existing railway expertise, solutions and investments and avoiding unnecessary fragmentation or duplication.
On FRMCS, the Committee reviewed progress on the roadmap for the future development of railway communications, with a focus on ensuring a coordinated approach that responds to the sector’s long-term operational and technological needs.
On capacity and operations, discussions focused on mapping existing UIC capabilities and applying a “reuse before redevelopment” approach to identify mature solutions that can be adapted before new ones are created.
On ontologies, the EMC discussed how semantic interoperability can support the digitalisation of the rail sector. The focus is on making better use of existing railway data, expertise and investments while ensuring that different systems and models can work together effectively.
On ticketing, members considered how UIC’s existing technical assets can evolve in a rapidly changing European regulatory, standardisation and multimodal environment, supporting more seamless passenger journeys while avoiding unnecessary duplication of established railway solutions.
A particular feature of the Berlin meeting was the first participation in an EMC meeting of Yuji Fukasawa, Chairman of JR East and Chair of UIC for the 2026 – 2027 term. Welcoming Mr Fukasawa, Mr Strisciuglio described his presence as a concrete example of the cross-regional dialogue that UIC should strengthen. Mr Fukasawa underlined UIC’s role as a platform through which members can compare experience, mobilise their collective technical and operational knowledge and translate it into practical results.
He stressed that innovation needs to remain closely connected to operational reality and highlighted the value of stronger exchanges between Europe, Japan and other UIC regions. He also emphasised the importance of preserving professional knowledge and transferring expertise to the next generation of railway professionals.
The meeting concluded with an exchange on JR East’s experience in safety, innovation and the development of expertise. Mr Fukasawa highlighted JR East’s strong safety culture and its emphasis on training and knowledge transfer, alongside the use of digitalisation, automation and AI to support maintenance and anticipate operational risks. He also presented JR East’s diversified business model, including its lifestyle solutions activities alongside rail transport.
The Berlin meeting provided an opportunity to advance the European Region’s key priorities under Mr Strisciuglio’s new chairmanship, while strengthening cooperation and the exchange of experience between Europe and the wider UIC community.
