A UIC delegation attended the annual meeting of the 1st OSJD Commission on Transport Policy and Development Strategy held on 13-16 October via web conference.
On behalf of Mr François Davenne, UIC Director General, the UIC delegation outlined the challenges and requirements for conventional and fast/high-speed passenger and freight transport to be implemented nationally by OSJD and UIC members. These efforts should be supported by the development of technical solutions, particularly to enable particular seamless high-speed transport in the context of railway systems using different gauges: 1435/Europe – 1520 – 1435/Asia. UIC has amassed significant experience of conventional and high-speed technical issues, which could be shared with OSJD as a strategic Eurasian partner.
Among other issues, the meeting addressed:
- plans for the improvement of transport and the development of OSJD railway transport corridors up to 2030: updating and approval of the technical and operational passports and proposals for the connection of new lines;
- analysis of the reasons for delays in passenger trains and idle time of freight cars at border (transfer) stations: development of relevant OSJD leaflet describing a unified methodology;
- development of measures aimed at facilitating border crossing and procedures within the framework of the International Convention on the Harmonization of Conditions for Goods Control at Frontiers (1982);
- strategic development of railway transport in the OSJD countries;
- debriefing on the activities of the ERA-OSJD Contact Group for the interaction of 1520 mm/1435 mm gauge railway systems;
- OSJD Statistical Bulletin on Railway Transport;
- approval of the draft OSJD Leaflet R 305/1, “OSJD Glossary”;
- development of a methodology for the “Volume of train work, taking into account the weight of the locomotive” indicator;
- approval of the draft work plan for 2021, 2022 and subsequent years;
- preparation of the draft decision of the next XLIX session of the OSJD Ministerial Conference.
The meeting was attended by representatives of OSJD member countries from Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Belarus, Hungary, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Estonia and by OSJD-affiliated enterprises: PLASKE JSC (Ukraine), Association of Higher Educational Institutions of Transport (RUT (MIIT)), METRANS (Poland); Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), EC (DG MOVE), International “Trans-Caspian International Transport Route” Association and the OSJD Committee, as well as UIC.
OSJD strategy for development of conventional and fast/high-speed transport
During the meeting, Mr Mikhail Vsevolozhskiy, OSJD Committee Deputy Chairman, addressed the importance of issues to be discussed for further development of railway transport.
The UIC delegation supported coordination activities within the frameworks of EU and EEU Technical Regulations and suggested using the IRSs produced by UIC as a universal source of railway expertise for the development of documents linked to technical solutions for cross-border and intersystem challenges. IRSs are aimed at global application, including application on international corridors.
The meeting participants also discussed the status of documents developed using ERA-OSJD and UIC-OSJD processes. Documents developed under the ERA-OSJD process are informative only, whereas UIC-OSJD documents are legally binding for both organisations.
The next meeting of the OSJD 1st Commission is scheduled to take place on 16-18 February 2021.
