Under the chairmanship of Stefano Donnarumma, CEO of FS Italiane, the UIC European Management Committee (EMC) met in Berlin, Germany on 23 September, on the eve of the Innotrans transport fair. This meeting was the first EMC under the Chairmanship of Stefano Donnarumma who was appointed by the members in July to lead the Region until the end of 2025.
“I am pleased to have chaired the 1st UIC European Management Committee meeting of my Chairmanship, here at InnoTrans in Berlin. Together with the major European leaders in the sector, we addressed the main challenges facing European rail transport and the broader mobility landscape: first and foremost, the safety of people and of the infrastructure on which citizens move, because there is no development without safeguards, and economic growth can only be achieved if it is guaranteed by economic, financial, social and environmental sustainability at the same time. To this end, we are committed to shaping the future of transportation for a carbon-neutral world, driving economic growth, enhancing rail’s positioning, and reinforcing its crucial role in sustainable mobility” - Chairman Stefano Donnarumma stated.
The EMC, which is the strategic body for the Region, addressed a number focus topics set out in the 2024-2025 roadmap – notably Digital Twins, FRMCS and Ticketing (OSDM).
Digital Twin technology is an undeniable game changer for the industry and presents many advantages in terms of efficiency, cost reduction, maintenance support to name but a few. The recommendations elaborated by the ad hoc expert group under FS leadership were endorsed and kicked off an ambitious 3-year programme, which will focus on governance, convergence of standards and coordination with other transport modes.
The focus of the FRMCS discussion was on the testing programme about to be launched. The programme called Morane 2 brings together all the actors from the industry and the railway ecosystem. It will span over 30 months and test the technology on a mix of high speed and traditional railway lines.
As a special guest, the meeting welcomed representatives of the CTO Council (the group of European CTOs) who presented the state of play regarding FRMCS migration to ensure ETCS compatibility.
The meeting also confirmed that the sector remains committed to delivering its Ticketing roadmap which outlines the vision for ticketing and distribution to be achieved by 2025. As part of this roadmap, the railways are continuing their efforts for OSDM – a key enabler developed at UIC in collaboration with its members – to be recognised at European level as a major step for the market in the area of multimodal passenger services, offering an EU-wide through-ticketing system tailored to business and customer needs and open to all players in passenger mobility.
