Video
Following the publication of the “Technical Solutions” document in November last year, UIC hosted this online webinar to demonstrate how the development of these solutions are an efficient tool for summarising UIC’s added value across its many areas of activity, including FRMCS, Freight, Passenger, Safety & Security and Sustainable Development.
Attended by around 250 people from UIC member railways, including representatives from ERA, UNIFE and the European Commission, the webinar was opened by UIC Chairman Gianluigi Castelli and Rail System Director Christian Chavanel, and moderated by Director Europe Simon Fletcher, with the ‘next steps’ delivered by UIC Director General François Davenne.
As the main technical body serving not only railway operators, but the entire community of railway stakeholders, including research centres and universities, UIC is a natural forum for bringing together all stakeholders and for developing collaborative global solutions. As highlighted in the opening words of UIC’s Chairman, Gianluigi Castelli:
“The UIC Technical solutions for the operational railway are a tangible demonstration of our will to address the deep changes needed in this new environment, from an operations and technology perspective, at speed and at scale.
From creating new world standards for railways, to proposing new ways to improve multimodality, all while reducing costs and raising market attractiveness, this compendium covers a broad range and provides another important tool for harmonising rail transport and serving our members efficiently.”
Rail System Director Christian Chavanel underlined in his introduction that this webinar reflected UIC’s ambitions to:
- share practice at European and global level
- develop technical solutions for the operational railway focusing on UIC’s added value
- develop collaborative technical solutions with its members and partners
- accelerate the market uptake of innovative solutions through its ability to disseminate solutions at global level and thanks to its IRSs.
Around 20 presentations delivered by various UIC experts, members and partners showed how the different areas of UIC are working to improve rail transport through standardisation, modal shift, interoperability, sustainability and innovation, giving a clear overview of UIC’s core achievements and developments.
At the end of the webinar, UIC Director General François Davenne highlighted in his closing remarks that although the event focused slightly more on the European side of the railways, these solutions have a very global reach, with UIC’s six regions also playing an important role in this area. These solutions are examples of the results delivered by UIC’s 120 working groups who work on a daily basis to develop technical solutions that meet the operational and commercial needs of end-users and other stakeholders across the entire railway sector.
The Technical Solutions document, together with the UIC Booklet (soon to be re-released), which showcases in detail UIC’s projects, experts and know-how, both highlight the importance of the involvement of UIC’s members in all of UIC’s projects through the various forums and platforms. It is this involvement which further enhances UIC’s reputation as a platform for research, standardisation and promotion of a rail system that is international, interoperable, efficient and that has people at its core, serving a global railway community.
As a reminder, the Technical Solutions document can be found here: https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/20201126_uic_technical_solutions.pdf
