In the context of UIC Centenary this year, and the month of June being the innovation month for UIC, the 17th UIC World Security Congress opened on the 14 June in Warsaw. It was jointly organised by UIC and PKP SA. They were honoured to welcome the Minister of State Assets in Poland, Mr Maciej Małecki, the Director General of PKP SA and UIC Chairman, Mr Krzysztof Mamiński, UIC General Director Mr François Davenne and the Chairman and Vice-chairman of the UIC Security Platform from Polish and Indian Railways, Mr Piotr Kurcz and Mr Sanjay Chander.
Around 100 participants from 25 countries all over the world had the opportunity to discuss the congress theme of “Innovative security solutions for rail”. The participants represented railway security managers, transport and police authorities, and international organisations.
Sessions were moderated by Mr Conrado Moreno-Szypowski, a television journalist in Poland.
First, Mr Krzysztof Mamiński, UIC chairman and CEO of PKP SA said: “We work every day to make travel by rail safe and comfortable. The issue we are discussing today is extremely important, particularly in the context of events beyond Poland’s eastern border, which is also the border of the European Union. Security issues in today’s unstable world are crucial to the functioning of both sovereign states and key sectors of their economies. The events of recent months have confirmed how important a role railroads play in the delivery of humanitarian and economic aid to war-affected regions and the transport of refugees. […]
we meet today to talk about improving rail security, and there is no security without innovation.
Innovation is one of the fundamental drivers for the development of any organization, including railroad companies. This also applies to the area of security. And in this context I would like to stress the great importance of the International Union of Railways, which in every crisis strives to unite railwaymen from all continents, at the same time encouraging the sharing of knowledge and experiences of individual members."
Mr Maciej Małecki, the Minister of State Assets in Poland, then said: “An absolute priority for all railroad companies should be to ensure the highest level of security for passengers during the entire journey, both at regional, national and international level.
This can be achieved by continuously developing the rail offer, developing innovative solutions to increase the railway’s resistance to emerging threats: from cyber attacks to terrorist threats.”
Mr François Davenne, Director General of UIC, “Safety and security are key elements of the customer experience and rail operations.
This year’s UIC security congress takes place in a context which is very sensitive in Europe with the ongoing conflict and raises new security challenges.
It is important to exchange points of view, share experiences, and prepare the future including the working programme of the security division
This 2-day conference will focus on innovative solutions to ensure that rail customers and staff are safe and secure in station and trains. It will also be the opportunity to take stock of UIC security activities (SAFETY4RAILS EU project, PROACTIVE EU project and the activities of the security division).”
The session was concluded by Mr Piotr Kurcz, Chairman of the UIC Security Platform who highlighted that: “There can be no doubt that ensuring safety and security of people, properties and goods of the entire railway sector is one of the main priorities. Therefore, we must constantly look to the future and develop innovative solutions to increase the resilience and to improve the safety and security of railway networks against emerging threats (also in times of crisis or in times of war)” and by Mr Sanjay Chander who underlined “the importance of fostering resilience in the railways and the important role response tools and assessment technologies must play in the implementation of innovative solutions to help increase security levels across the whole sector.”
Rail security strategies and cooperation with authorities were first discussed.
Mr Adam Morawski, Railway Security Guard, Poland, highlighted the role and rights of railway security guards, their interventions, trainings, as well as the places and events where they are present. He also presented information on the activities of the Railway Security Guard to promote security through lectures in educational institutions, international cooperation, inter alia, in cooperation with the UIC Special Group “COLPOFER” and discussed joint exercises with other services.
Ms Vita Zaķe-Zaikovska from SJSC, Latvian Railway described the National Security System of the Republic of Latvia, its national and international regulations, NATO’s requirements, and how these impact critical infrastructure resilience. The role of SJSC in supporting both civil and defence sector and best practices were also shared.
Mr Manuel Seidl, from ÖBB, Austria discussed the company’s safety & security strategy, the protection goals and the measures required to achieve these goals. Then he focused on the coordination of the Ukrainian crisis and their strategic approach.
Mr Hendrik Vanderkimpen from SNCB, Belgium described the security service in his company, with a focus on the client: feeling of security and a focus on staff with a will for more support and coaching. He described the main proactive actions taken against crime between theory and practical analyses.
Mr Andrew Kermack, from the British Transport Police, UK, described the core functions of the Counter Terrorism Security Office: protection of crowds, infrastructure, hazardous sites and substances. He also described what qualifications and courses are required to become a Counter Terrorism Security Advisor.
Then the focus was placed on the implementation and evaluation of innovative solutions (e.g., smart CCTV, drones, detectors, access control).
Mr Miroslav Vojtek, from Správa železnic presented the projects of security technologies currently led by SŽCZ to protect its infrastructure and stations.
Mr Grzegorz Tokarski from PKP SA, Poland explained how his company ensure security in stations with innovative solutions: their integration and future developments.
Mr Batyr Kotyrev from KTZ, Kazakhstan, shared the innovative directions his company is taking, for safe-working conditions, among others.
Mr Paul Vosgiens from SNCF, France detailed the specific role and efficiency of the explosive detection dog unit.
The speeches were then addressed towards best practices for security by design.
Mr Patrick Wittwer from SBB, Switzerland, gave an insight into the security architecture and actors of SBB, and the projects they lead for integrated and innovative solutions.
Ms Delphine Beatse from SNCB, Belgium, explained how design of stations can limit the crime and improve the quality of life (environmental criminology) and detailed the security challenges of new and future smart cities.
Mr Edgar Laurens Fonseca from RATP, France, described the application of security by design in public transport rolling stock and stations and the work carried out by UITP in this regard.
On-going EU security research projects updates and international cooperation activities were then presented.
The EU SAFETY4RAILS project, was presented by Ms Marie-Hélène Bonneau, Head of UIC Security Division, who is the end-user coordinator for the project. The project aims at increasing railways resilience to combined cyber-physical threats. It is now in its last phase. The main output is the SAFETY4RAILS Information System platform which offers a series of risk management tools to improve the resilience cycle capabilities of railways and metros, focused around five phases: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover. Three simulation exercises were already held and the last one will be held in July in Milan. The final conference will be held on 28 September in Paris, UIC HQ.
The EU PROACTIVE Project, coordinated by Mr Grigore Havarneanu on behalf of UIC, was presented by Ms Laura Petersen. She explained that the project has now completed its first stage which included various studies, from questionnaire, interview and focus groups to literature research. This enabled the project to identify the needs of civil society, including vulnerable groups, as well as best practices from practitioners, for CBRNe (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and explosive) risks and threats. The results of these studies are now being put to the test during field exercises, the first of which was just completed. The scenario was based on the accidental release of a chemical substance from a freight train, affecting civilians at a nearby station. Final results will be available in toolkits and will include recommendations for the rail sector on how to improve CBRNe preparedness and response.
The global aim of the EU PREVENT PCP project, presented by Mr Edgar Laurens Fonseca, RATP, France, is to augment the security in public transport through innovative procurement of technology solutions.
Regarding international cooperation, Mr Frank Reitsma, from NS, gave an update on behalf of Ms Maria Cristina Fiorentino, on the UIC special group COLPOFER. He underlined the importance of the international collaboration between railway police and security services. He presented the various working groups, among others terrorism, graffiti and control rooms.
Then, the following updates from the UIC Security Platform were presented by the UIC security division team:
- Main objectives and organisation of the security platform from 1 July, the chairmanship of the platform will change with Mr Sanjay Chander from RPF (India) as Chair of the security platform and Mr Xavier Roche from SNCF (France) as Vice Chair.
- The recent surveys of the Network of Quick Responders on Use of intelligent video surveillance systems, human trafficking and crowd management are available on the Rail Security Hub at railsecurityhub.org.
- The guidance for the management of refugee crisis, prepared by Ms Daria Kardel, in the framework of the UIC Refugee Task Force is available at www.uic.org/refugees.
The Rail Security Hub (https://railsecurityhub.org/) was then discussed with theparticipants during a workshop organised to get feedback from the members of the security platform. Participants discussed the scenario of an abandoned luggage whereby a poisonous snake escapes. Participants described the various measures they would put in place if faced with such a scenario and then were asked to find relevant solutions on the Security Hub. The results of the discussions and questionnaires will be analysed by the security division and used to improve this platform aiming at helping security managers find solutions to address security threats.
Mr Piotr Kurcz, chair of the security platform ended this two-day conference underlining that collaboration is key. “He is confident that the wonderful knowledge and discussions based on this case study will result into concrete results”. Ms Marie-Hélène Bonneau on behalf of UIC, warmly acknowledge him for his great involvement and fruitful collaboration.
Mr Sanjay Chander, vice chair of the security platform, stated that he was “looking forward to take the chair of the UIC Security Platform”, paid “tribute to the UIC Security Platform, growing with each other’s experiences” and that he “proposes to host the next UIC World Security Congress in India next year”.
Next events that will be organised at UIC headquarters in Paris are the following:
- SAFETY4RAILS Final conference on 28 September 2022
- The 7th CIPC International Conference on crime observation, criminal analysis and best practices: Security of mobilities, from 4-6 October 2022.
The feedback from the participants on the congress was very positive with an average rating of 4.7 / 5.
The presentations given during the congress will be available soon on the private UIC security workspace at https://extranet.uic.org/.
