The steering committee meeting was opened by Mr Piotr Kurcz of PKP (Polish Railways), chair of the Security Platform, and Mr Arun Kumar of RPF (Indian Railway Protection Force), who took up the role of vice-chair on 1 July. Mr Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of UIC’s Fundamental Values department, then provided an overview of UIC’s challenges and its contingency plan for the Covid-19 crisis.
The leaders of the various Security Platform working groups reported on their activities. Highlights included:
- ongoing work on guidance for the organisation of security during large events within the Human Factors working group led by RZD,
- the joint meeting between the New Technologies WG led by Správa železnic and the SIA (Sabotage, Intrusion, Attack) WG led by DB, which will be held online on 19 November. The meeting will focus on mobile technology solutions that can be used to protect railway premises against sabotage or intrusion.
Information was also provided by representatives from Colpofer, RAILPOL and UITP. Close cooperation and information exchange is developed on an ongoing basis with these partners on the various topics addressed by the Security Platform.
The UIC Security team also provided an update on ongoing activities:
- Involvement in the UIC Covid-19 taskforce: the members of the Security Platform expressed its thanks for the work carried out by the taskforce and proposed an overview seating limitation in trains in the various companies, as well as an update on the impact of Covid-19 measures on security, particularly for staff and passengers.
- Coordination of two security-related, European-funded projects: SHERPA ( https://sherpa-rail-project.eu/) and PROACTIVE (https://proactive-h2020.eu/).
- Involvement as end user coordinator in the new, European-funded SAFETY4RAILS project, which will start on 1 October, focusing on safety and security protection for detection, prevention, mitigation and response in trans-modal metro and railway networks in the event of combined cyber-physical threats.
Furthermore, a new UIC opt-in project proposal has been submitted on “Innovative approaches to assess and improve passengers’ security perception”. UIC members interested in this project can contact the Security division at security@uic.org to obtain further information on how to become involved.
On account of the Covid-19 crisis, the decision has been made to cancel the 2020 World Security Congress. Upcoming key events to be held online are as follows:
- SHERPA final conference on 15 October
- PROACTIVE mid-term conference on 28 October
- Joint SIA and NT Security Platform working group meeting on 19 November
