During a virtual meeting on 30 January 2023, the UIC Latin American team had the honour of welcoming EFE (Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado), the Chilean State Railway Company, as a new member of the region. EFE is a Chilean state-owned company in charge of freight and passenger rail transport, and was created on 4 January 1884, which makes it the country’s longest operating public company.
The welcome meeting was chaired by Marc Guigon, Coordinator of the UIC Latin American Region, with the participation of Vanessa Pérez, Senior Advisor for the Passenger Department and Latin American Region, and Nicedolly Taborda, UIC Representative for the Latin American Region. EFE was represented by Ricardo Montecino Leonard, Group Planning and Management Control Manager, and Polet Domínguez Rojas, Strategy and Development Assistant Manager.
During the meeting, Marc Guigon highlighted the importance of developing projects to act as a reference for the region to grow its railway networks, and mentioned all of the resources at UIC’s disposal, such as the platforms, working groups, projects, standardisation and data, to which EFE now has access to as a member.
Additionally, EFE became a UIC member to benefit from successful experiences in the railway field, aiming to develop its company’s know-how by reviewing existing standards created within the UIC working groups, as well as to contribute to the creation of projects that solve sustainability, rolling stock maintenance, and safety (safety and security) issues within the system.
Pérez emphasised how railways are seeing a resurgence in the region with increased political will for its development, and that it was necessary to take advantage of the situation and carry out projects to create reference material for the region. Montecino also stated that EFE would seek to advance work which calls attention to the known advantages of rail, notably in sustainable development, by promoting its importance over other systems of land transport. He also highlighted how interested EFE was in working with other UIC companies on infrastructure and rolling stock maintenance, and sustainability projects.
The calendar of activities proposed for the region was another topic discussed at the meeting, and EFE is expected to participate in the general and executive assemblies throughout the year, as well as being involved in the working groups and events, thanks to its UIC membership.
The UIC-Fiata “Development of multimodal corridors in Latin America” webinar, to be held on 14 February 2023, is just one example of the events promoting Latin American activity that UIC designed, with the aim of promoting expertise on rail networks and sharing experiences to provide greater harmonisation within the global railway system.
