The UIC Asia-Pacific 2025 Web Series has successfully delivered its second instalment, featuring an in-depth session on the Passenger Department.
Philippe Lorand, Director of Institutional Relations and UIC Coordinator for Asia-Pacific, opened the meeting, emphasising the series’ goal of showcasing the diverse activities and visions of different UIC departments.
Following a productive session with the Security Department in July, this meeting provided a crucial platform for an in-depth discussion of the Passenger Department’s services and its strategic vision for the fast-growing Asia-Pacific rail sector.
Bertrand Minary, Director of the UIC Passenger Department, delivered a comprehensive overview of the department’s work, highlighting the Asia-Pacific region’s significance as a fast-growing railway hub. He reaffirmed the department’s commitment to providing maximum value to members by focusing on collaboration, developing innovative solutions and ensuring the rail industry remains a leader in sustainable and efficient transport:
- Global collaboration: The Passenger Department’s team includes seconded experts from global organisations, including JR East and China’s CARS, fostering a rich exchange of knowledge.
- Key initiatives: The department operates more than 30 expert groups, offering a wide range of services from training courses for passengers with reduced mobility to the development of digital ticketing solutions and industry standards (IRS).
- Strategic Working Groups: Minary detailed five main working groups: the Passenger Services Group, focused on digital and operational solutions; the Station Management Global Group (SMGG), which recently relaunched the prestigious Brunel Awards; the High-Speed Group, responsible for setting global standards; TopRail, dedicated to railway tourism; and the Commuter and Regional Train Services group.
- Innovative projects: Minary highlighted the opt-in projects funded by members, which focus on key areas such as customer experience, accessibility, multimodality, sustainability and technological innovation.
A vibrant Q&A session followed, with members enquiring about which regional projects could be of interest and accessible to Asia-Pacific members. Members showed particular interest in European projects and how their methodologies could be adapted to the Asia-Pacific context. Regarding standardisation work, Minary confirmed that these open-source standards are available for global use and adoption, citing their use in the Middle East region. He also shared information on presentation meetings for projects like Rail4Cities and MultimodX, highlighting the opportunities for Asia-Pacific members to gain insights from these innovative initiatives even if they are not direct participants. These knowledge-sharing events represent valuable learning opportunities for regional railway development.
The meeting concluded with a reminder from Philippe Lorand that UIC Asia-Pacific members can propose regional projects and funding is available each year for five to six regional “opt-in projects” in the Asia-Pacific region. He encouraged members to submit project proposals by 24 September 2025.
Furthermore, Lorand also announced the upcoming Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly in November and the UIC General Assembly in Poland, as well as the subsequent APRA web meetings, featuring contributions from various UIC departments and specialists.
- 11 September 2025: Advocacy
- 18 September 2025: UIC tools
- 10 October 2025: UIC Sustainability Department
The session underscored the UIC’s commitment to being a transparent, value-added partner to its members and a leader in the professional rail field.
More information on upcoming APRA Web Series 2025 sessions is available here: https://uic.org/events/uic-asia-pacific-web-meeting-series-2025
